Keys
by aohitomi
Summary: The Grid holds secrets for Sam Flynn, keys that his father left behind. After meeting an old friend, he sets off to uphold his father's legacy. Though not everyone may want him to do so.  Spoilers for Game/movie/comic
1. Prologue: The Legacy

**Prologue: The Legacy**

_Dearest User,_

_ Kevin Flynn was master of the Grid. He was a brilliant man, willing to sacrifice himself for any goal. He was the Creator and made the his creations beautiful. But now he is gone. Who will step in to take his place? _

_ I wanted to invite you to take part in a mission, a mission of great importance. _

_ There are keys to this world. Flynn is gone and he has left behind his legacy. There are keys that are deep within the fabric of this reality, things that he has left behind I have been trying to find them on my own, but have had little luck. The keys are elusive, but there are clues. Whoever holds the keys to the Grid will have the unlimited creative power of the Grid itself, the power of a god. I know that Flynn has hidden these keys in hopes that others will find them and continue to pursue his dreams. _

_We hope you will join us. For now the Grid is open._

_You're welcome. _

_-Cyphen_

: 

...You're welcome.

-Cyphen

Jayla wondered how this strange email had ended up in her inbox. She tried tracing the message back through the various email addresses in the header. Everything lead to dead ends. The message was about the Grid and Flynn. Flynn, maybe Cyphen meant Sam Flynn, her boss. But that didn't make any sense. Cyphen said that Flynn was gone, but her boss was very real and alive.

"And calling me right now." Jayla groaned as she answered her cell. It was 4:30 in the morning, and she was nowhere near ready for Sam to call her in. But it happened. Part of her job was being on call at a moment's notice, and it was part of the job she hated most.

"Hey. What's up?"

"I need you." Sam sounded particularly awake for 4:30 in the morning. Not his usual style. His usual style meant partying until 2:00 and sleeping until 12:30. Jayla knew something was going on.

"What's going on?"

"There's been a breakthrough. The ISO units are recreating themselves! We need everyone here right away."

Before he could finish, Jayla was out of bed and getting ready. She didn't even stop for breakfast before putting on her helmet and rushing out the door. Soon she mounted her motorcycle and rushed to the lab. It was beginning, and she wanted to be there to see it.

She forgot all about the email. She would remember it later.


	2. ISOtec

**Chapter 1: ISO-Tec **

The pager on Sam Flynn's nightstand began to shake. He kept the old relic as a reminder of his father and their experiences in the Grid. It was a piece of junk, but it was something that meant a great deal to him. He looked at the clock. 4:20am.

Sam sat up in bed, rolled over and hit the lights. Quorra stirred next to him, but didn't wake. The pager continued to shake and then stopped, revealing a number that Sam recognized. It was Harry calling from the lab. The page meant this was something top-secret, and Sam called back quickly.

"Boss! it's the ISOs," Harry sounded happy but frantic. He spoke quickly. "The ISO cells we grew just started multiplying! They're creating themselves just like in the grid!"

"I'll be right there." Sam hung up, cutting off Harry's possibly long-winded explanation. He quickly pulled on a shirt and his black jeans. Quorra woke, sensing his energy. "Hey where are you going?" she asked.

"There's been a breakthrough at the lab. I'll be back later." Quorra rolled over and went back to sleep, pulling the covers over her head. Sam looked back for a moment. He loved it when she did that. It was so human.

Before he left he called Jayla and Ryden. He wanted to make sure they were all there to see it. Finally his father's miracle was coming true. His legacy would truly live on here in the real world.

He threw on his biker jacket. It felt right, and reminded him of his time in the Grid. The only thing missing were the light strips on the sides and his identity disk. He laughed. Mounting his motorcycle, he raced into the empty night on his way to something amazing.

When he arrived at the lab he was surprised to find Dillinger there as well. "Harry called me," he explained. Sam looked over at Harry, who looked sheepish. Dillinger was head programmer at ENCOM after all and he was involved with the project at least tangentially. But there was no time for arguing over who was privy to this particular project, so Sam simply ignored Dillinger and entered the lab. Quorra should be here to see this, he thought. This would mean so much to her.

Sam thought about the implications of their latest discovery. When he had left the Grid with Quorra, he struggled with his father's vision. Here was an opportunity to create a future, but he had no concept of where to start. His father only had a vision but no direction. It was Sam's job to see it through.

After officially taking control of Encom, he created a team of programmers who called themselves the Motley Crew and set up a lab for them to explore the ISOs and their genetic programming. What they discovered was fascinating. The ISOs' programming in the Grid translated to genetic material when they were transferred to the real world. This genetic material could be used in a variety of health applications many which still remained to be discovered. This is what Flynn had discovered on his own but never would have a chance to see in his lifetime.

Realizing the scope of the project, Sam created another lab separate from the Motley Crew. He gave the job of overseeing this laboratory to his friend and fellow programmer Ed Dillinger Jr. The two of them had started off tentatively, maintaining an arms length after discovering their fathers' history. Dillinger was also angry that Flynn had released their major OS on the market for free the year before. But as soon as Sam became more serious about being the head of ENCOM, Dillinger was able to forgive him and move beyond their history. Sam respected Dillinger and his ability to both program and manage teams, but he was still wary. Together they had revived ENCOM and made the company thrive.

So it was natural that Sam would give control over the separate program to Dillinger and give him rights to the Grid. It seemed right at the time. And the rights were only secondary. Dillinger couldn't reverse or modify any changes Flynn made to the grid and Sam had to approve most of Ed's changes. Sam felt safer that way.

Dillinger looked over Flynn's shoulder at the large flat panel screen. The screen showed the magnified contents of a circular dish. These were copies of the cells originally harvested originally from Quorra. The screen also showed a strand of DNA and a series of open command windows. Dillinger pointed to three of the DNA strands that marked the new ISO DNA. "Jesus!" he said. "Those amino acids, they don't exist in nature!" The patterns of DNA didn't make sense, but there they were.

Harry smiled. "These DNA strands make proteins that are almost identical to those in the human body, but the additional amino acids make the proteins unique."

"What happened? You said they were replicating."

"I added a program that mimicked the random operation from Flynn's original Sea of Simulation. It worked. The DNA started creating cells, on its own. It's using the electronic energy of the computer to create new cells!"

Jayla simply sat there astonished. The work they had been putting in for hours on end was finally paying off. Ryden came in, late as usual, and they explained everything once again. Dillinger looked pleased.

"Is this ready for practical application?" he asked, almost knowing the answer. He was excited to think he could finally start working on the practical side of the equation. The possibilities for real world applications seemed endless.

"No," Sam said quickly. "We need more time." Dillinger was surprised. The two of them were used to working quickly and living on the edge of their seats. It was unusual for Flynn to show restraint.

"Why?" Dillinger asked. He was almost petulant.

"Because if this gets out too early we could have issues. We need to make sure the research holds up in the Grid. We need to find out if we can create more ISOs before we move on to real-world applications." Dillinger looked hurt. He knew that only Sam had unlimited access to the grid. The grid was his own private little testing area and he had always resented him for that.

"Then give me the data and I'll take it to my lab for testing. We're already working on the hypothetical theories of creating regenerative human tissue from ISO cells. I'm sure we could use the additional help."

"Not yet," Sam said again. He seemed to be in another world. Thinking of the Grid and the implications.

"Ok well whenever you're ready." Dillinger knew that once Sam had his mind set on something there was no going back. He sourly resigned himself to the second tier workload he had almost always had. But he did have his thoughts about the grid. And hopefully soon he could put his plan into action. "Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Harry, Jayla and Ryden went into the lab and started programming the data mining programs for the ISO-tec. They now needed to capture data on the program's ability to change. They were in for a full night's work, Jayla thought, but someone had to do it. "Let's bride em and ride em" Jayla said, using her trademark catchphrase. Nobody really remembered where it came from, but somehow it stuck. Ryden threw his feet up on the desk and opened a can of beer. He knew it was going to be a long night and was getting ready for the work that the Motley Crew almost always had to put in.

They turned on AC-DC and got to work. It was going to be a long night.

"Keep up the good work guys. I need to run home for a little bit. Keep me posted on any developments." Before anyone could drag him back he was running out the door, eager to get back to Quorra to tell her the good news. Her children were about to be born. The grid would have ISOs again. And she wouldn't have to be alone anymore.


	3. Quorra

**Chapter 2: Quorra**

Quorra walked out of Flynn's apartment, if you could call it that. It was more like a trailer. She looked out over the water. It was still early in the morning and the stars were still floating in the sea. The city reminded her of the grid, but the light in the Grid was cold and blue. The light of her new city was yellow and warm.

She knew it was going to be different. From the moment she left everything was new. But she still saw a lot of similarities, things that reminded her of her old home. At least both worlds had skies. For instance Flynn's motorcycle. It was supposed to be a light bike, she thought as they rode away from the Grid that day. There were other things that reminded her of home, though why it would rain inside the Grid still remained a mystery to her.

She put her feet in the water and felt the cold. Sam had run out earlier leaving her behind. She didn't mind though. This was the first night she had ever truly slept and she had experienced her first dreams. She wanted to continue and also knew that if she bothered Sam she might be in for it. More and more he was losing his temper recently. He seemed to be under a lot of stress, from his duties at ENCOM, his research and his time on the grid. It didn't leave a lot of time for her, so she decided to explore her new surroundings.

First she decided that she wanted to try a pastrami sandwich. She wasn't used to eating, and most of the time when she and Sam father had eaten on the Grid she simply did it to humor him, but she had heard about pastrami sandwiches from him and wanted to try one. At first Sam didn't believe her, but she insisted. So Sam found a little out of the way deli where they supposedly had some of the "best sandwiches known to man," and started to order their food.

"I want to do it." Quorra stood at his side. "Let me do it Sam." So she ordered two pastrami sandwiches with Swiss cheese and two diet cokes. Sam was impressed. Somewhere along the way Quorra had learned something about the human world. She was becoming more confident in her new life.

In fact Quorra was a voracious reader of databases. She began on the New York Public Library's servers but then branched out. She found that Wikipedia was the most interesting site and spent a lot of time there. She was tempted to read the whole thing, but Sam warned her against that. There was only so much you could learn online, he explained. The rest had to be learned through your experiences outside in the world.

She looked up. She heard the sound of Sam's motorcycle in the driveway. She had lost track of time again. Time moved so much more quickly in the Grid. It was something she had to get used to. At times she would lose minutes and seconds and couldn't remember where she was. Sam worried about her but Quorra chalked it up to the changes she would have to face living off-Grid.

Sam parked his bike and jumped off. He was almost running to the house. "I'm out here," she yelled for him. He ran around the trailer and found her.

"Quorra! I have amazing news!" He rushed towards her and swung her up into a an embrace. "The units! We got them to replicate!" He looked up at her and smiled. "there are going to be ISOs on the grid again."

Quorra almost stopped breathing. She remembered her friends, Radia, Gibson, all the other ISOs killed off in CLU's purge. The ones who had died helping her escape. She had come to believe that she would always be the last one. That she would always be alone. Sam's news was almost impossible to believe.

Sam seemed concerned. "You don't look too happy about it." he said with a frown.

"No Sam." She whispered, not to say no, but to make him pause. She could almost see his thoughts racing away from her and into the future.

"No it's just that it's a lot to take in. I'm happy. I really am. But it almost seems too good to be true." She instinctively held him closer. It was another human trait of hers that he loved, though not in this particular case.

"Quorra I promised that you would have family again. And now you will. Thanks to you there will be ISOs again. Our dream is actually going to come true." She smiled. It was really his dream, his dream to fulfill his father's fantasy. For her it was much more complicated. She hadn't gotten over the hurt, the emptiness of the purges, and for her it was almost too soon to think of the joy that her new family might bring.

"You'll never have to be alone Quorra." And he held her and smiled. She found the warmth of his arms and just stood there quietly letting the hope slowly come to her.


	4. The Accident

**Story note: This story, or chapter, or key as the case may be, has been one of my favorites to write so far. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter 3: The Things We Discover When We Aren't Looking**

Jayla was rushing home from the lab. The night was long and she was tired. She had spent nearly three days straight programming for the ISO-tec and no amount of punk rock or energy drink would sustain her now. She was happy that Sam had had a chance to see their work. She was amazed that Harry had actually pulled it off. But there was only so much they cold do at once. She decided to go home and get some sleep. It was 5:30.

The city was completely empty. Now there was only the occasional taxi passing by. She pushed the throttle faster, trying to get home so she could fall asleep. She could feel her eyes closing and forced them open.

As she rode down the stretch of empty highway, she felt happy for the first time in a while. Even within the Motley Crew, Jayla, at times, felt isolated and alone. It was just part of her personality. When she wanted to be with people she could be the life of the party, but otherwise there were times when she just wanted to get out of their lab and run away. Sometimes she thought she was better friends with her programs and avatars than she was with people in the real world.

Her mind flashed to Harry. Harry was the only person who truly made her laugh. He was the only person who didn't ridicule her for her pimples or the fact that she wasn't the best looking girl in the world. He didn't care that she was awkward or weird. She imagined herself in a world with him, sharing their lives together. But she never believed it would actually happen. She was too afraid of being rejected. So she never asked, and the two of them went on being good friends.

She remembered the first day she met Harry. She had been working in the quality control department at ENCOM checking and reprograming video games. She secretly called her department the Boy's Club since it was primarily made up of fratboy nerds who thought they ruled the gaming universe. Jayla started her career as a graphics designer but found her way into programing instead. Her favorite game was Light Bike, but everyone else thought that was old and outdated. They were all into the latest first person shooters and they even had a Boy's Club Halo tournament. At first they invited her, but then they realized she didn't care. After a while nobody invited her anymore.

One day she was sitting in her cubicle working on a new kids' game when the new guy across from her stood over the divider between their cubicles, and looked down at her. "I hate it here. Wanna get out and go?" It was Harry. Harry was a decent looking guy. He had started to bald at an early age, but it was his laughter and his smile that was to die for.

"Um sure," she said not sure at all that she wanted to, but anything was better than quality control on Light Patrol Racebunnies. The soundtrack alone made her want to puke.

The two of them got up and left. Nobody saw them leave, and nobody would have cared if they had. Harry even stopped to grab some popcorn from Andy's cubicle since he wasn't there. He munched on it with glee on their way out.

In the elevator he turned to her and smiled. "So where to?" he asked. He leaned back against the elevator in what Jayla couldn't help thinking was a cool move.

"Um we could go get some coffee or a burger or something." Awkward! She thought she must have looked like an idiot.

"Ok sounds great! I know this little place that has the best mocha cappuccino lates!" When they arrived on the ground floor, Harry ran, almost skipped to his car. It was a Prius. It was bright green.

"Get in! We're going on an adventure." They drove for what Jayla thought might have been miles. While they drove they talked about how they both ended up at ENCOM. Harry went to graduate school for bioengineering. The only reason he was in the games department was that he was being asked to edit and review a game that involved marine life, which was his specialty. He found the Boy's Club just as annoying as Jayla did, and told her as much.

"That's a good name for it. The Boy's Club," he told her with a smile. She nearly blushed.

"Well I come up with a lot of catch phrases in my spare time. I call Andy Michael Jackson. Get it?"

"Not really," Harry said.

"He's the king of pop! He's always eating popcorn." She giggled.

"That's hilarious." Harry smiled. "I would have just called him an asshole. That's why I like to steal his popcorn. Serves him right." He laughed.

Jayla laughed so hard she started to snort. She realized this was not the most attractive thing and suddenly went silent.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She was surprised he hadn't said anything about her laugh. Most people thought it was weird. They had finally arrived in the parking lot of a small mall. She didn't have to answer, thank God, since she was about to get out of the car.

The two of them spent the rest of the day getting coffee and eating delicious doughnuts. Harry really knew his coffee, she thought. They laughed and talked about all of Jayla's crazy catch phrases and nicknames. They even discovered that they both loved the old Light Bike game.

"It's a classic!" Harry said. "You know I even had a chance to meet the son of the guy who created it."

"Really?"

"You didn't know? Sam Flynn, our boss. His father created all those games. Even Space Paranoids. And Tron too."

"I LOVE that game!" And what seemed like minutes was really hours. They started on the road to a friendship that Jayla sometimes felt was the only thing that kept her sane.

The lights of the highway flashed by. Jayla had traveled this way so many times she knew it was ok not to pay too much attention. She remembered the time Harry discovered her love of motorcycles. She laughed and told him that it was probably the only cool thing about her. That was one thing in her life that she loved beyond anything. She loved riding. Maybe that was why she loved the light bike game. It resonated with that part of her.

Jayla wondered what had inspired Harry that day, why he had asked her of all people to go and have coffee. She wasn't sure why it came to her then, but she finally felt sure of it. She understood it now. Harry felt the same way about her. She hadn't been able to see that through the insecurities she felt at the time, but she realized that he probably asked her out that first day for a reason. He seemed just as at ease around her as she did around him. Maybe she didn't have to wait for him to make the first move. Maybe things would work out after...

As she was daydreaming, she didn't see the yellow light change. She didn't see the truck barreling through the intersection. As she flew through the air, she hit the median and fell to the ground. The driver of the truck rushed ahead and came to a sudden stop. At least it wasn't a hit and run, she thought as she tried to pull herself to he feet. The driver ran back and tried to assess the situation. There was nobody else around. She turned her head and looked over at her bike. Crushed. She would have to get a new one. Hopefully her insurance would cover it.

She tried to stand up but for some reason her legs weren't moving. That was funny, she thought. She tried again. Nothing. The real fear set in. This wasn't a joke anymore. This was real. As soon as she thought that she felt searing pain rush up the side of her body. Yep, this was real.

"Help me!" she called to the driver of the truck. But he didn't speak English. "Nueve Nueve Uno" she mouthed. She felt light headed. Maybe it was a concussion too. That would really suck. She thought of Harry as she blanked out. The sound of sirens followed her into her deep sleep.

A few hours later, Sam felt his pager vibrating. He was rushing to a board meeting at ENCOM and felt sick. He was going to present the preliminary findings of the Motley Crew. It was a hugely important meeting. If all went well he would be able to fund the project for another year. But the board had to approve it first. And the last thing Sam needed was to be sick during his presentation.

He struggled with the stacks of binders and notebooks. Alan had always suggested he hire a personal assistant. It probably would have helped, given all the work he had to do and his poor time management skills, but he felt guilty having to burden another person with the things he couldn't do for himself. When the pager went off, he nearly dropped everything.

If it was his pager it had to be important. Only three people had the number. Harry, Alan and Quorra, who had never thought to use it. He steadied himself and put the notebooks and binders on the kitchen table. He looked at the number. It said Harry's number followed by 9-1-1. He picked up the receiver of the landline phone in his kitchen and dialed the number that followed. It was the number of Mercy Hospital.

He reached and operator and asked for Harry. She said he was in the emergency room waiting room and that she would be just a minute. The phone clicked as he was transferred to the emergency department. The voice on the other end seemed frantic and scared.

"Flynn is that you?" It was Harry.

"Yeah Harry it's me, Sam. What's going on? Are you ok? Why are you in the hospital?" The questions rushed out before he could even think. He thought of all the things that could have gone wrong in the lab.

"It's Jayla, Sam. She's been in a horrible accident. A truck in the intersection last night." He tried hard to hold back the tears. "You have to come right away." Sam was floored, but he hesitated. The most important meeting of his life was about to happen. The most important moment of his life might be passing. Which was worse? The death of a friend or the death of his father's dream?

"Harry, I'll be there as soon as I can. Let me make a few calls. Take care of her for me ok?"

"Sam? Hurry ok. The don't know if she'll make it." Harry choked down a sob.

"I'll be there Harry, I promise."

Sam called Alan and told him what had happened. He asked him to try and postpone the board meeting. He knew that it would make the board members unhappy but there was nothing else he could do. Alan said he could try and get them to push the presentation to the end of the meeting, but that this meeting had been constantly postponed for months now, due to Sam's erratic behavior, and he didn't think he could entirely reschedule it.

"I promise Alan," Sam begged. "I'll be there as soon as I possibly can." He hung up the phone and raced to get on his bike. Quorra stopped him at the door. "I heard what happened. I want to come with you. Jayla's my friend too." Sam nodded and the two of them rushed to the hospital.

Jayla could hear the sound of the medical team working all around her, but she could hardly see anything. She realized that there was blood in her eyes. She had been restrained and put in a neck brace to make sure there wouldn't be any more damage to her spine. The bleeps and beeps of the machines reminded her of a game of Pong.

She heard someone say "I'm sorry sir you can't be in here." Then it was a familiar voice. "But she's my friend. I need to know what's going on!" It was Harry. He was nearly screaming. Way to go Harry. She thought with a smile. She was glad that someone had come to help her. She was glad that it was him.

Pain rushed through her body and she almost screamed. "Please calm down," a nurse said. "We're doing everything we can to help." Harry was escorted out into the waiting room. Jayla passed out for a moment, but then after a while things seemed to calm down. She was wheeled into the elevator and taken up to an MRI machine where they tested her. Something was clearly wrong because, as she feared, she couldn't move or even feel her legs. After they ran more tests, she was wheeled into a room with four other beds. The nurses lifted her into the bed and positioned her legs and back so she was sitting up. Nobody explained what was going on.

As she sat there, a doctor with a clipboard came in. He tapped on the board and read the notes, as if she were some test subject. "So do you remember what happened to you?" Of course she did, she wanted to yell that yes she had been in a horrible accident and it was her own damn fault and she couldn't move her legs thank you very much! She nodded her head slightly and pain rushed down her neck.

"We've run some tests, and unfortunately they confirm our worst suspicions. When you were hit by the truck your spine was injured beyond repair. Unfortunately that means that you will be paralyzed from the waist down. Your insurance covers the cost of physical rehabilitation, but chances are very slim that you will ever walk again. I'm sorry to give you such unfortunate news."

She didn't register the information. She simply thought this doctor used the word unfortunately too much. It was more than unfortunate that she had no use of her legs anymore. Unfortunate didn't cut it. She just sat there taking it all in. The doctor stayed for a few minutes and left when she had no more questions. Harry came rushing in.

"Jayla!" He cried. "Oh my God. Oh my God! Jayla what happened to you" As soon as she saw how worked up he was, the tears that threatened to pour out from her quickly turned into sobs. Harry came and stood by her bed. She reached for his hand and he took hers in his. They had stitched up her face where there was a huge gash on her forehead. She had a black eye too.

"It looks worse than it is." She tried to smile but that hurt, so she cried instead.

"They told me," he paused. "They told me you won't be able to walk again?"

"Hey anything's possible." Jayla was trying to keep his hopes up. She didn't want him to hurt as much as she did. "They say our ENCOM insurance covers the cost of rehab so we'll see." Probably not. She thought, probably not. She'd never walk or ride her bike again.

Sam came rushing in. "Jayla!" Quorra followed behind him. Why if it isn't our fearless leader, Jayla thought and laughed a bit inside. The jokes helped her get through all the mental pain. They had given her some pain medication but all the narcotics in the world couldn't bring back her legs. She almost wished she were dead.

"Hey Sam," Harry said. "Glad to see you." Sam and Quorra stood by Jayla's bed.

"What happened?" Sam asked. Harry explained everything. He tried hard not to cry. He seemed more upset than Jayla was. For some reason that comforted her. She sat there as Harry went through what he knew, what had happened. As Sam listened, Quorra came close to the bed. She had never been in a hospital and the machines interested her. She came closer, almost too close, and looked at Jayla.

"I'm sorry," she said. Jayla was angry. If Quorra was injured they could just reprogram her. In fact Sam had told her that that was exactly what they had done when she had been injured in the Grid. Quorra didn't know what it was like to have a real injury, one that couldn't just be programmed out of existence. But Jayla thought the sentiment was sweet at least.

"Thanks." She wanted to talk more with Sam. He was in many ways actually their fearless leader. Being around him would make it easier to cope. Harry was great, but he was too upset, too nervous to help her ignore the situation. Sam, while a bit airheadded in some cases, was a really solid guy.

"Hey Sam." Jayla looked up. It was hard for her to move her head. Even Sam looked shaken. "Don't worry on my account you big neanderthal." Even Quorra laughed a little at that one. It was Jayla's pet name for Sam and it stuck. She wanted him to start talking so she asked him how things were going with the funding.

"Holy crap! I almost forgot." Sam threw on his jacket and was nearly out the door before explaining that he was late for the meeting that might decide the fate of the Motley Crew. He said he was sorry and rushed away.

Quorra looked at Jayla. "You know him. He'll be back later." Jayla was hurt, but she knew Sam. She knew that he always had to be a million different places at once. Quorra and Harry stayed with her, but Sam never returned that day. Jayla just assumed he got caught up in himself, as usual. After a few hours Harry asked if she wanted to go to sleep. She said yes and he and Quorra left. The lights were turned down. Other patients mumbled in their sleep. Nurses came in and out. And soon it was just Jayla, and the sounds of the hospital lulling her to sleep like the sounds of a game of Pong.


	5. Explanations

**Chapter 4: Explanations**

Sam Flynn raced to the ENCOM board meeting. Racing meant rushing back from the hospital to pick up the binders, rushing back to ENCOM and running through the building an hour later than he was expected. He skidded to a halt in front of the conference room, put the binders on the floor for a moment and brushed off his suit. After he straightened his tie, he took a deep breath, picked up the binders and entered the meeting.

Dillinger was standing in front of a screen explaining the work of his latest design team. He was gesturing dramatically at the board when Sam came in. He looked up. He had hoped Sam would be there to hear his plans, but of course he was an hour late. "Nice to see you actually made it this time." he whispered.

All Sam could say was, "hey." He sat down next to Alan who turned and whispered in his ear. "Is she ok?" Dillinger continued his presentation.

"I don't know. Things look pretty bad."

"Ok well you have to put all that out of your mind now. After Dillinger, it's your turn. Got it?"

"Guess so." His mind was a million places at once, everywhere except the board room.

He saw the way everyone in the board room looked at him. They still thought of him as that kid who messed with all their plans once a year. Everyone saw his father in him, regardless of what he did or how he was actually moving the company forward. Even when he and Dillinger and the Motley Crew had actually started making progress on the ISO-Tec, nobody believed that he was going to make it work. When people looked at him all they saw was somebody else. He was living in the shadow of a man he had never really known.

But he was toeing the company line. He wore the suit and tie, he tried to be on time as much as possible. He went to meetings, held interviews and managed other people's work. He tried to make the business world his own, even if he knew he'd never be at home there. He wished his father could see him now.

And then there was the matter of his father's death. Everyone who knew expected him to be sad. Everyone expected him to be upset, despondent. The fact was, it was all too short for him to make any attachment. His time with his father in the grid amounted to a few days. He barely had time to register that his father was alive let alone register that he was gone again. Sam was used to having an absent father. He had spent most of his life believing he was dead anyhow. So wanting him back turned out to be useless. His father had done what he thought was right, even if it meant abandoning his son again.

So rather than getting upset over something that didn't matter, he threw himself into protecting his father's legacy. He inherited the company and the grid and he was going to make the most of it.

Alan elbowed him in the side. "Have you been listening to _anything_ that Dillinger's been saying?"

"Well," Sam said.

"It's kind of important Sam. He's pressing the board for more money into the practical research of ISO-tec. They seem extremely interested."

Sam was furious. He had already had this conversation with Dillinger, and he hated being ignored. He leaned back in his chair and said,

"Excuse me Mr. Dillinger, but what happens if we rush ahead with this and we end up with a mess on our hands? Do you really think the board would want to clean up after you? A program like this could cost ENCOM a lot of money" Sam looked smug. Dillinger turned red. He hadn't expected Sam to undermine him like this in front of the board, but he realized he probably should have expected it. A few of the board members shuffled uncomfortably in their seats.

"I don't think it should be an issue. The point is, we need more time to develop these applications through diligent research." Dillinger turned away from Sam and addressed the board members. "We aren't market ready yet, but we will be if given the right resources." He turned back to look at Sam trying to keep an angry scowl off of his face. Sam was his boss after all and it wouldn't look good. "Which is what I've been _trying _to explain for some time now until you interrupted me. In any case, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that if we put more research into ISO-tec here in the real world, we will see the fruits of our labor. I hope you will consider this as you draw up your budgets for next year. Thank you." He sat down across from Sam and proceeded to type random numbers into his Ipad. The last thing he wanted to do was to look at Sam. He was afraid he might climb over the table and punch him in the face.

Now it was Sam's turn to present. He stood up clumsily and passed out the binders to each board member. They had been designed by Jayla and looked beautiful. They were dark and had the blue lines of the grid. The first page had an identity disk and the word ISO-Tec written in blue lettering.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the board," Sam began. He quickly began to gain confidence as he spoke. "Today we have come here to discuss our budget. But this is more than just a discussion about money. It is about the future of our company. Now I'll admit, in the past I've been more than a pain in your sides." He smiled and the board laughed. "But I think that we've been able to overcome our differences in the short time I've been able to work with you all."

He smiled and tapped his Ipad which opened up a window on the screen. he tapped the screen again and a video of his father began to play on the screen. it was an old video where Flynn was talking about ISO-tec being the future, the future of ENCOM and the future of the human world.

"I'm sure you are all aware of what we call the Grid. My father created the new grid because he believed in its power. At first he was considered the creator, and only his programs lived within that world. But suddenly there were programs that were creating themselves!"

"We are aware of this already," one of the board members quipped. "We don't need to hear it all again."

"Sorry," Sam said. Some of his confidence was slightly deflated. But he continued. "I truly believe in my father's legacy, and in time we will be able to put these miracles into practice here in the real world, as Ed has already explained to us." Sam paused. This was the most important part of his presentation and he needed to make an impact.

"However this is not the time. There are things we have to do first, before we can realize my father's vision" He tapped on the screen and images from the grid world appeared. The images were of ruined buildings, explosions. The figures of dead derezzed ISOs.

"In recent history, ISOs have disappeared from the grid. A program named CLU decided that they were imperfect, scars on the grid that needed to be destroyed." Another click and there was a picture of Quorra.

"In the end she was the only survivor. My father protected her. Because he knew that in the end she would be the one to save us. He felt ashamed of writing the program that nearly destroyed the grid, but now with his legacy he can restore the grid to what it was, maybe to more." Why had he said it that way? His father was dead.

"I'm sorry Sam, but I don't understand. Why should we care about the Grid? Shouldn't it be more important that we work here, in the real world?" Dillinger was doing his own usurping now.

"The grid is vital to ENCOM. It has always been here. Whether it was the original Grid that my father discovered in the computer or the one he recreated. The grid is ENCOMs testing ground. By funding research within the grid, we will be able to create more ISOs. ISOs that will eventually be more valuable in the real world. As it stands now, we only have one. And she's fragile. One ISO is not enough to help us here. One ISO isn't enough for the future." Sam took a deep breath. He had come to the end of his presentation.

"We need more ISOs before we can continue our practical research. My team is now attempting to bring ISOs back to the grid. If we are successful, the research will become much less tiresome and much quicker. The possibilities are endless. I hope that you will take this into consideration as you draw up your budget proposals for next year. Thank you."

"Thank you, Sam." Alan stood up. "I think Sam has made a very good case. As he said, if we move too quickly we may stand to lose more than we think. I suggest we follow Sam's plan and approve full funding for his team. I also suggest we provide limited funding for Edward's project as well." Dillinger looked up. He was surprised that Alan was taking his side. "Even though we are not focusing on the practical applications at this point, it would be foolish to abandon his project all together."

Sam looked up at Alan. While his idea made perfect sense, he had a feeling Dillinger would take all of this personally. Also Sam was afraid of how Dillinger might get the raw materials for his research. He seemed to have set his eyes on Quorra which made Sam uncomfortable. But better to compromise than to make an enemy out of his friend. He felt the tension in the room, and he didn't like it at all.

"Sam, what do you think?" Alan turned to him.

"I think that's a great idea," Sam said with a smile. "And my team will do whatever we can to cooperate with Ed's team. After all, we are all part of the same company, and we all have the same goals right?" Dillinger smiled. It was more like a sneer. "Yes, Yes I'm sure we do."

The board meeting adjourned and Sam and Dillinger went out into the hall.

"I can't believe you did that, Sam. You and I both know that my work is important. Limited funding? It will put a stop to our program completely."

"Hey limited funding was better than nothing."

"And that bull about cooperating? You haven't cooperated with my department at all. And only you have access to the Grid research. How am I supposed to cooperate with you if I can't even get in to see what's going on with our research?" Dillinger was furious.

"Look I gave you access to the grid."

"Limited access. And I can't even make changes unless you approve them. Do you know how long that takes? "

"Alright, I've been thinking about it for a while now. I don't want to be your enemy and I really believe if we work together we can get twice as far. If you want full access to the grid then you've got it." Sam still didn't trust Dillinger completely, but he agreed that he deserved the right to access the information that they both needed to share.

"I don't want to be your enemy either." Dillinger felt better now, knowing that Sam saw things his way.

"Ok, User," Sam said. "Let's get you into the Grid for real this time." Dillinger smiled and put his arm around Sam. Their real work was just beginning.


	6. The Games Have Changed pt1

**Story note: So hey if you've made it this far, thanks so much! It's nice to see that people are following the story. This part is a little like a side story, but introduces a few things. (I guess each chapter is kind of its own little story in a way...) Reviews are always appreciated and welcome. **

Chapter 5: The Games have Changed (part one)

Ryden was sitting in the lab with his feet up. He decided he needed a break. Twenty-five hours in a lab as small as this one was not good for one's psyche. He couldn't even tell if it was day or night.

Ryden was a nickname he gave himself. His real name was Richard but he thought that was too pedestrian, too normal. As a huge fan of Mortal Kombat, he took it upon himself to become the lightning god of the universe. Plus he thought Japanese was the coolest thing ever. Ever since he was the anime club president in high school he thought Japan was Mecca and that anime girls were hot. He smiled and leaned back even farther in his chair.

Harry sat on the other side of the room. He had a device that looked like a metal headband strapped to his head. He took it off and made a minor adjustment to one of the wires on the outside of the band. It looked like something out of a monster movie.

"I think we've finally worked the kinks out of it."

"You sure?" Ryden had his doubts about Harry's handiwork. He knew that Harry wasn't the best programmer, but this was his pet project. Ryden let him run with it. The Touchstone was a mass of wires and nodes attached to a metal band that ran around the user's forehead. There were also a pair of dark glasses used to create a visual field. It was like a set of mutant 3D glasses.

The Touchstone allowed Ryden and Harry and anyone else using the device, to access a program on the grid called an Avatar. The avatar would act in the place of a user, so that the user wouldn't have to be digitized. These programs were created to represent their users within the grid. They could go anywhere and do anything a user could do, but they still functioned as programs. They had their advantages and disadvantages, but it was better than not having access. Sam had allowed Harry and Ryden to use the Avatar system to continue their research. Of course he secretly knew they also used it in the Game Grid, but it was par for the course. They needed to have their fun too. The long hours they put in more than made up for the few they used to play disc wars.

"Care to have a go?" Harry asked.

"Fine but don't blame me if I beat all your high scores." Ryden placed the band on his head, put on the glasses, flipped a switch. And, suddenly, he was in.

* * *

The Arena was the center of recreational life for those programs who lived within the Grid. Tonight was the qualifying tournament for the World Cup Disc Battles. Only the elite programs were invited to these games, but there was also a qualifying round where hopeful programs could possibly gain a wild card entry. As Ryden's avatar rezzed into the game grid, Ryden felt a powerful adrenaline surge. Clearly the neural connections were calibrated correctly; he actually felt like he was there in the grid.

Ryden had created a powerful avatar named Aeos. Aeos was programmed for quick and no-nonsense fighting, and if all went well he would also have a few tricks up his sleeve. Aeos was a ninja, and Ryden knew he could fight like one. He would have to pull out all the stops since his opponent that night was a grid warrior named Marbak. He was considered one of the elite fighters since Rinzler had been derezzed, and he was looking to make a name for himself in the tournament.

The sound of the massive crowd swelled like static. Marbak stepped onto the Arena floor and the crowd cheered. He pulled out his light disc and bowed to the crowd. He had always been a showman. He threw his disc in the air where it danced a figure eight and swirled back into his hand. He was a master of the light disc and even though he was not above the occasional parlor trick, his skills had served him well in battle. Aeos thought that the grandstanding was unnecessary. He simply took his place on the stage and waited for the battle to begin.

No one knew Aeos. He had never entered a major tournament before. Most of the crowd thought it would be an easy match. Usually first time programs were a joke to even booed the program, choosing to cheer for their already determined hero. Marbak reached for his disc, which glowed a bright orange, and prepared to fight. The unknown program just stood there. It was black with glowing dark purple lines.

The announcer called for the start of the match.

As Aeos continued to stand there unmoving, Marbak quickly spun his disc over to the other side of the match arena. Aeos quickly moved left and ducked. In the lab, Ryden could feel the swish of the disc as it passed his face. He gasped. His movement was so quick that most of the crowd didn't see it happen. Marbak's disc returned and Aeos pulled out his light disc and whipped it across to the other side where it ricocheted off the wall. Marbak slammed his disc into the floor turning the stage over. The crowd cheered. This was one of Marbak's signature moves. Ryden continued to walk on the top of the stage. The gravity change was not affecting him. This was an anomaly. Marbak was confused, and for a moment he lost his balance. Aeos seized the opportunity.

Aeos spun his light disc and broke his own hole in the stage jumping over to Marbak. His gravity finally adjusted, he realized he had the upper hand. He nearly had Marbak and was reaching for his neck to derezz him when his head started to spark. Lightning bolts started to collect around his helmet. And then Aeos phased out and disappeared.

The crowd gasped. The announcer coldly said Win Marbak. The grid seemed to sizzle in the spot where Aeos had disappeared.

* * *

"Jesus Christ! Harry get me out of this thing!" There was a spark. Ryden's hair was about to catch fire. Harry quickly removed the metal band from Ryden's head and put it on the table. The wires began to smolder, but the worst was over.

"What the hell happened? I was just about to beat Marbak!"

"Looks like a short circuit. You were riding the system pretty hard, you know."

"Jesus frakin' Christ Harry! You said we worked the kinks out!"

"Well I guess we didn't. Calm down. You're ok." He helped Ryden out of the chair.

"Yeah well I nearly had my brains blown out. I'm not using that thing again until you fix it."

"Fine." Harry's shoulders slumped. He had hoped this would be the one time the Touchstone would actually work properly, but he was prepared to make more adjustments.

"Hey hand it to me," Ryden said. He knew that he was the better programmer. He knew that Harry knew that he was the better programmer. He tried not to rub it in, but sometimes he let it show.

"Look," he said. "I'll take this home with me and work on it. I'll try to have it up and running as soon as possible. You're right. I'm ok. No worries."

"Look I'm sorry Ryden," Harry started to apologize.

"No worries," Ryden repeated. He hated to admit it, but it was kind of exciting nearly getting his hair lit on fire. Even though it sucked not getting to give Marbak the beating he deserved, he knew there would be more time for that in the next round of games. "I'll work on it. In fact I'll have it to you by the end of the week so we can fight in the next round of battles."

"So anyhow," Harry asked, "What was it like? Did you actually get to fight Marbak?"

"Yep. That guy is intense!"

Ryden started to go into the details of the match, how both the digital shift and the antigravity program had actually worked, the way Marbak chose to use his light discs and how the wind felt as the disc passed his ear.

Then Jayla came in. She wheeled her chair past the two of them and went to the computer terminal. Ryden and Harry both knew that Jayla wasn't into the grid games. Since the accident she was sensitive to anything that involved sports. They tried to convince her to create an avatar. The two of them told her that on the grid it would even feel like she would have legs again, but she just stayed quiet and turned back to her work. That didn't mean she wasn't fun though. Jayla still joked around with the best of them. But you could sense that something had changed in her since the accident. She no longer had that glow that came from being wild and innocent.

"Hey guys." She said smiling over her shoulder. . "You can talk about that stuff around me if you really want to. I'll just plug my ears and ignore you like I always do." They laughed.

"No worries," Ryden said. "We were just finishing up our little experiment. It went well. We should have the system up and running by the end of next week."

"Cool! We'll be able the ISOs in action. I've been waiting to see something that looks more like a human and less like numbers on a screen."

Ryden reflexively rubbed a spot on his head. He picked up the Touchstone, flipped it in the air like a light disc and looked at the wires. This should be no problem, he thought. I'll have this system up and running again in no time. Secretly, he wanted more than anything to be back in the games. The rush of play was addictive. He didn't think he'd be able to play any other video games again.

Before he left, he sent Sam an email letting him know how their progress was going. Sam would be excited to know that their research was moving forward. He was spending more and more time on the grid talking with programs, beta testing the new genetic material, so he wasn't always hanging around the lab working with them on new ideas and projects. Sam also enjoyed his time in the arena, and Ryden knew it would only be a matter of time before Sam went all out in an arena match. Only a matter of time. He looked forward to it.


	7. ISO Children

Chapter 6: ISO Children

Sam and Quorra stood over the modified identity disc, waiting for the program to begin. They were in the center of Tron City where the Input Output tower gave them access to the Motley Crew's system in the real world. They both felt tense. This would be the culmination of a long and winding road. Sam felt nearly light-headed. They were about to see if their work was going to pay off.

Sam tapped the center of the disc and the screen rezzed to life. They had modified Quorra's new identity disc to contain additional ISO cells. In essence she would be the mother of all the ISOs that would come after her. She felt a strange tingle when he touched her disc, it was like he was touching something deep inside of her. Something deeply connected to what his father had called a soul.

"You alright?" Sam asked. Part of his hesitation about the whole project was that Quorra was involved. He was fiercely protective of her, not just because of his father's hopes, but because he liked her. He liked being around her. And he didn't want to see her get hurt. He wanted to make it up to her. This was the way he was going to do it.

Sam entered some numbers into the keypad at the center of the disc. He sent a message to Ryden to upload the program he had created based on the Sea of Simulation. A beam connected to the disc from the I/O tower. The program was downloading.

"Why are you crossing your fingers?" Quorra asked.

"It's just for luck."

"Oh." She crossed hers too. For some reason she wanted him to hold her. She put out her other hand instead. He took it in his.

As they stared at the disc, a small figure started to form. Bits of data began to swirl and take shape in the middle of the disc. They began to coalesce into the figure of a small child, an infant. Quorra gasped. The child was still only a faint outline, but it was clearly there. It was the most beautiful thing Quorra had ever seen.

Then the image flickered. Sam looked up at the I/O tower. Something wasn't right. The program was uploading too slowly. They only had one chance to work with this batch of units, and there was no room for error. He watched the identity disk helplessly as the cells began to deteriorate.

"Damn!" he yelled and grabbed the disc. The disc was hot to the touch and nearly burned his hand. He quickly punched in the abort code. The beam from the tower immediately disappeared.

"Damn! It didn't work again." He turned to Quorra, with a pained look in his eyes. She hated to see him so upset.

"It's ok Sam. I know you tried." She moved closer to him and suddenly he wrapped her in his arms. She held on to him. She felt something wet on her cheek and realized that a few tears had fallen from his closed eyes.

"We saw it. We even saw it this time!" He looked down, not able to look her in the eye. "I'm so sorry Quorra. I made you a promise, and now I failed again. There must be something missing." She pressed her face up against the warmth of his jacket.

"Sam." She didn't have anything else she could say. She just wanted him to be happy. He had already done so much for her, for all of them. "I think we should go back home now."

Sam looked up at the I/O tower. It had to be faster. Something fundamental in the Grid was keeping them from being able to download the program fast enough. He felt trapped. This world was his father's creation and he didn't understand it completely. Nobody did.

Then he remembered he had his father's disc. He tapped the dog tag on his neck. It flashed blue in the dark world of the grid. He smiled. Maybe his father had left behind some clues after all.


	8. Flynn's Disc

_Author's note: Double updates all the way! 3 Stats are back online. I think that will make Quorra happy.  
"Sure does" Quorra was online reading her favorite fics again.  
"Good," Flynn said. "Now she doesn't have to get mad and bother me all the time." And he went back to drinking tea and listening to Scandinavian flute music. __  
Sigh. Characters, sheesh, what are you gonna do? **Thanks for reading! **_

Chapter 7: Flynn's Disc

Sam returned to the lab above the arcade. He removed the dog tag from around his neck, the one that contained his father's disc. Everything his father had ever done, everything he had ever understood, known or been a part of, everything his father had been was on that disc. It was his father's final parting gift. Sam felt a wave of bitterness pass through him. I went to the Grid and all I got was this lousy Identity Disc. He thought it would make a great T-shirt.

He put the chip into a small scanner next to the main computer. An image of an identity disc appeared, one that Sam could manipulate. He typed in "Search: Grid" Hundreds of data files appeared. He changed his parameters: "Search: Grid, Download Speed" There were still at least fifty files, but as he started to go through them he realized that none of them were exactly what he was looking for.

The screen flickered. There was a flash of static. Then the screen went back to normal.

That's odd. Sam thought. Without thinking Sam typed in "Search: Sam" The screen began to flicker quickly and a loud static began to build. A red error message appeared on the screen as the screen continued to flicker: "Error. Disc has been corrupted. Files missing." Sparks began flying from the dock. Sam only had seconds to remove the disc. He watched as the computer shut down and then rebooted itself.

A strange message appeared across the screen:

_In order to access location Sam FILES please use _KEYS.

Sam typed:

Query: What is KEYS?

_KEYS access codes provide additional access to FLYNN DISC. TRON program will advise. _

Tron. It had been a while since he had heard his father say that name. As they were fleeing the light jets he had overheard his father say "Tron what have you become?" At first he hadn't thought much of it. He had been too busy in the turret. But now he was curious. Was Tron still alive?

Query: where is Tron?

_Sea of Simulation. _

That's right. They had been flying over the Sea of Simulation at the time. Maybe Tron had survived. He realized there wasn't much time. Maybe Tron was injured. Maybe he was already dead. He decided to ask this strange program.

Query: Is Tron alive?

_Yes. _

Query: Who are you?

_My name is Cyphen. _

Cyphen, eh? He decided to investigate. He would find Tron and ask him about the KEYS codes. He threw on his jacket and ran downstairs. He was about to go back to the lab at ENCOM and return to the grid. They had recently abandoned Flynn's old lab since it was too small for all of them to work in at once. Sam reserved it for his private research.

Then he remembered he had a game to get to.


	9. The Games Have Changed Part 2

Note: This story looks much better in 1/2 or 1/4th form (click the upper right corner).

**Chapter 8: The Games have changed: part 2**

The Motley Crew had gathered in the lab. "Pizza's here guys!" Ryden said and brought a huge box of Papa John's pizza into the room. Sam and Quorra had brought a six pack of Sam Adams, and Jayla had bought some of her sizzling hot "burn your brains out" chicken wings. "I'm warning you," she told everyone before putting them on the table, "you'll probably want to take them one at a time. This stuff is fierce!" Ryden proceeded to shove two in his mouth and had to run to the sink in the bathroom to guzzle water. "Damn," he yelled from across the hall, "you really weren't kidding!" Everyone laughed.

To anyone looking from the outside you might have thought they were getting ready to watch a football game. In fact that was nearly what they were about to do. Harry sat in front of his computer screen. He had turned Daft Punk's Aerodynamic up and the music was pumping through the speakers.

Everyone in the room was animated. Quorra seemed to even enjoy the atmosphere. She was happy to see that her friends were having such a great time. Sam seemed to have forgotten their failed experiment. Quorra was glad that he seemed so happy. She watched as he grabbed another beer from the mini-fridge and popped it open. He handed one to Quorra. "Here drink!" he said. "You act like I've never seen a beer before!" she had to yell over the music but it made him laugh. "Fine, you win." He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. It was small and nobody else saw it, but it made her blush.

Ryden stepped into the room with a Touchstone in his hand. "Welcome everyone to the World Championship Games at the Game Grid Arena!" Everyone in the room cheered as though they were at a sporting match. "Please don your viewing apparatuses, and take your seats. This particular round will be highly entertaining!" Ryden passed around the four other Touchstones and everyone put them on. Jayla was a bit hesitant, but she figured that being an audience member couldn't hurt. Quorra thought that Ryden seemed a little too much like Zuse for her liking, but put her Touchstone on anyhow.

They were all transported to the arena viewing area. "He wasn't kidding when he said he programmed us the best seats in the house," Harry said. They looked around at their different avatars. Jayla had decided to have her avatar, K12, sit in a wheelchair. She said it felt more familiar. Harry's avatar was a bright yellow and black program. He had programmed his Avatar to look almost exactly like him. His avatar's name was Hercules, and Ryden called him H-bomb for short. Quorra, looked exactly like herself. Sam and Ryden's avatars were nowhere to be found.

"Where's Sam?" Quorra asked.

"Look over there!" Harry said. It was hard to hear over the cheering crowds. There was a huge mass of photographer programs and paparazzi in one particular corner of the arena. It was hard to see, but Quorra thought she could just barely make out Sam's face.

"Our fearless leader is now our famous leader," Jayla said. Sam had entered the grid as himself, and was quickly surrounded by fans and photographers. He smiled and posed for the cameras and stopped to take a few questions from blogging programs. Jayla pointed out Ryden's avatar Aeos trying to push aside the gawking masses. Some programs begged for autographs. Sam was more than happy to oblige. He was enjoying his fame He waved and smiled at the crowd.

"Come on!" Aeos growled. "We don't have time for this!" He pushed aside the fanatical programs so they could finally reach their destination. Sam and Aeos made their way to the stage and were lifted up into position. They were separated into two different match grids.

Aeos was up against one of the newer additions to the game grid. This program was named Usul. Originally Usul had been a music recording program but was repurposed for the game grid. His weapons of choice were two short light sticks. That meant he would only excel at close combat, Aeos thought. He prepared himself for a long-distance battle.

The match began and Usul quickly came inside Aeos' guard for an attack. Aeos' speed revved up and he quickly dodged the blow. He spun his disc creating a wave of energy that sent Usul flying back across the stage. Aeos retrieved his disc and flung it again, this time aiming directly for Usul's chest.

"Don't underestimate this other program guys," Harry took a sip of his beer in the real world. "Usul's been known to be incredibly smart." Quorra watched as Usul blocked the disc with his light sticks, twirled around and struck out at Aeos. Before Aeos could register the attack, Usul's light stick extended and he spun back the other way. Aeos blocked, but he lost his footing and nearly fell. Usul quickly threw his other light stick at Aeos, flipping it end over end. It nearly connected. Aeos grabbed his light disc with both hands and held it out in front of him sending out a pulse of energy. The stick was forced back.

"Wow! Go Ryden!" Harry yelled. Jayla was on the edge of her seat. She cheered as Usul was forced to retrieve his light stick. Both of the warriors paused for a moment to regroup.

Aeos made the first move. He ran around the inside wall of the stage and picked up speed. Usul stood in the center of the stage not knowing where Aeos actually was. Aeos quickly slammed his disc down into the center of the stage, breaking through and flipping the gravity. Usul was disoriented and the flip made him stumble. He grabbed for his sticks, but it was too late. Aeos let his disc fly and Usul shattered.

"WOOOO!" Harry waved his arms. "Way to go Aeos!" They all cheered. Aeos looked up to where his friends were watching, and smiled. He exited the stage and rezzed out.

"Hey!" Ryden appeared as himself sitting next to Jayla. "So did you enjoy the match?"

Jayla and Harry both gave him high fives. "You were awesome!" Harry said. "Usul didn't stand a chance." Then they turned to watch Sam's battle. They hoped that the Motley Crew would be two for two in this round.

Sam had battled all the way to the quarterfinals before his first loss. Now he had to win this battle or he would be out of the tournament. He was worried that he hadn't trained enough. It was too late to think about it now, though. Now he had to make it work. He rolled his shoulders back and stretched his arms. It was now or never.

His opponent arrived on the stage floor. The crowd cheered. It was Marbak. Looks like it will be a fan favorites match, Jayla thought. Ryden looked pissed. He felt that he was the one who should be fighting Marbak. He hoped Sam was up to the task. Marbak really needed to be taken down a few pegs.

"Who's that?" Quorra asked. She thought the program Sam was fighting looked tough.

"His name is Marbak." Ryden explained. "He's one of the best fighters on the grid. Almost as good as Tron was. You worried about Sam?"

"A little," Quorra confessed.

"Well I'm sure he'll do fine. He's here as a User so he'll be alright." Ryden wasn't so sure. Even he had trouble with Marbak. He hoped Sam was ready.

The computer announced the two fighters. And the games began.


	10. Before the Games Begin

Chapter 8: Before the Games Begin

The program stood in the highest area of the arena. It was hidden from view of most of the spectators. The spectators who could have seen him wouldn't have noticed anyhow. He had been programmed for stealth.

_Program report._ A voice command prompt flashed across his field of vision.

_Subject in view. _

_ Analysis? _

_ So far so good. _ It was a User expression that he liked, from back in the day when he had had a user. _The Subject has entered the arena. He is preparing to battle. _

_ Proceed as planned. Report back when your mission is complete. _

The words End of Line put an end to the conversation.

The program looked out over the arena. So many programs in one space. So many programs mindlessly going about their lives, doing as they were told. If only they could see, what he had seen, learn what he had learned. If he had had a face he would have smiled. Oh, but they would.

The light tracks on his helmet flashed for a brief instance as his files uploaded. He had access. Now it was only a matter of time before his mission would be complete.

He sat and waited. He was patient. He was ready.


	11. Sam Vs Marbak

**Sam Vs. Marbak**

Sam stood across from Marbak. Unlike his first disc battle where he had been lucky enough to survive Rinzler's beating, he now actually had a good idea of how to fight in the ring. He had gone back to his capoeira training after he had returned from the Grid the first time, and he hoped it would come in handy now. He had also started learning a form of gymnastics called tricking. If Rinzler could do it, so could he.

The crowd cheered. They were ready for the match to begin. Jayla looked out into the arena. The programs seemed nearly frantic, their energy threatening to spill out into the game grid itself. It felt like every program in the arena was on the edge of its seat waiting for something to happen, waiting as though they wanted to fight Sam themselves. Sam was a celebrity alright, but he was also a user. And that meant that any program itching for revolution would also be after Sam.

"Kick ass, Sam!" she yelled. Sam looked up and smiled. He feigned confidence. Even though he worried about his training, he knew he had to be confident now.

Marbak stood at the other end of the stage. His helmet revealed nothing about his face or his expression. There was a chance that the program had no emotions, had no thoughts about the match, but Jayla had a feeling that Marbak would be more than happy to beat Sam to a pulp.

Quorra also seemed to sense this and turned to Harry. "Will he be ok?" The program leaned forward into a ready stance.

"Just watch," Harry said. "He'll be fine. He's got a few user tricks up his sleeve."

Marbak pulled out his disc. It was a purple identity disc glowing with energy. Sam took out his disc and his helmet folded down over his eyes. They were both ready.

Sam felt the energy of the crowd. He pulled out his disc. This time he was confident he could at least catch it properly. His disc spun with electric blue energy. It was now or never. He started to move back and forth in a capoeira _ginga_. If Marbak wanted a game he'd give him one.

He whipped his arm and sent his disc to the other side of the stage. Marbak spun and dodged it effortlessly. The disc ricocheted back and Sam caught it and quickly threw it back again. Marbak rushed in, breaking Sam's guard. The two of them traded blows, light discs flashing, sending sparks into the air. Sam came in close and pulled an _esquiva_, faking to the left and moving smoothly to the right and around Marbak's legs. Sam kept a low stance, weaving in and out, playing with him. He felt the thrill of the game, something he hadn't felt since he was in the _roda _years ago in Brazil.

Marbak struck out with his disc, and Sam countered with a particularly strong blow. Marbak stepped back. He seemed to falter for a moment and had to catch his balance. The light tracks on his helmet were flashing quickly as though there were some glitch in his programming. He stumbled and put his knee to the ground. Sam came in for the attack, but dodged out of the way, trying to make sense of what was going on.

Marbak looked up at Sam. "Help me!" he gasped. His body started shaking uncontrollably as though he were having a seizure. Sam stood there, not sure what to do. He realized that the program must be under attack from the inside. "What should I do?" he asked and reached out a hand to help.

"Sam Flynn, it's time for you to die!" The voice was different than before. Marbak's voice had been broken and raspy. This voice was strong, sizzling with energy. "The grid belongs to its programs. Death to all users!" The program lashed out with its identity disc, a disc that was now glowing bright yellow. Sam barely had time to duck. He blocked the attack and smashed his disc into Marbak's arm causing the arm to shatter. Marbak switched his disc to the other arm, but he was already down. Sam stood over him.

"What do you want with me?" he yelled. Sam put his foot on the program's chest.

"I'm here to give you a warning, user. Leave the grid. You aren't welcome here." "Screw you!" Sam said and was about to derezz the program, when Marbak's voice returned.

"I'm sorry, Flynn...didn't want it to end this way... Flynn...this program is powerful... it doesn't want you to find them...it doesn't want you to, but..."

"Find what?" Sam yelled. The program's light tracks dimmed. "I don't...know..." Marbak screamed as a yellow energy flashed through his body. "Hurry...derezz...me." Sam brought his disc across the program's neck and ended the match. He stood up, shaken by what he had seen and heard.

_Zuse watched as Sam raised his hands in victory. He called to one of his security guards to bring him his command pad. He typed a message and a command window. He was not happy. Not happy at all._

Sam and the others rezzed out of the Grid and back into the lab. Quorra and the others wanted to talk to Sam, see what had happened. But he was already half way out the door.

Harry turned to Quorra. "I'm sure he's fine," he told her. Quorra wasn't so sure. She ran after Sam and caught up to him as he was mounting his Ducati.

"Hey Sam, wait up!"

"I have to go back to the Encom lab, Quorra. There's something I need to find." He started to turn the key.

"You can't just run away like this," she yelled. "Your friends are in there wondering what happened to you!" He turned back to look at her.

"Tell them that I'm going to find what my dad left behind." Quorra stared at him, not sure what he had meant. Harry and Ryden rushed down from the lab just in time to watch Sam pull out and into the street. They waved their arms in the air trying to get him to come back, but it was no use.

"Who would want me dead," Sam thought as he swerved through traffic. "Who would have the power to take over a program and try and kill me?" He was more determined than ever to find these keys.

When he got to the Encom lab he took of his jacket and stood in front of the laser. He held on to the dog tag that held his father's disc. Oh if they wanted a game, he'd give them one. He set off to the grid, more determined than ever to find his father's legacy.


	12. Dillinger's Notebook

Dillinger's Notebook

December 29th

LOG: 25

I'm tired of Sam's inability to program a system that can sustain our research. He still refuses to be practical. Yesterday I pointed out to him that our technology could possibly help his friend Jayla walk again. He still maintained that we weren't ready to move forward yet. And he still insists that we create ISOs in the grid and yet he fails at every attempt.

I have been doing research into improving the Grid technology. Flynn left us with a lot of outdated programs some of which I have been able to modify behind Sam's back. He believes that I am working on optimizing the system. But there are other things I am interested in.

There are rumors of artifacts hidden in the grid. Some programs believe that these keys, they call them the Keys of Flynn, were left behind by their creator and that whoever finds them will gain control over the grid. I have to admit these rumors have piqued my curiosity. Recently I had the opportunity to learn more about them. I have a feeling they will be very important in the coming days.

I have also developed an interest in Sam's friend Quorra. She has been helping him, and I have a feeling that she could be persuaded to join me and my team I invited her to coffee, but she has yet to respond. I hope that in the coming days more can be done to win her over.

Quorra and Dillinger met at a local coffee shop. Sam was off doing Sam things. Quorra was left alone more and more often now. She tried to find ways to keep herself busy. She took care of Marv, went for walks on her own, but it was rare for her to actually sit down and have a conversation with someone. When Dillinger invited her, she was glad to be able to get out of the house.

"So what do you like to do on your, well, on your days off," he asked her. Since Quorra had never had coffee before, Dillinger had helped her order. She liked sweet things, so she got a hot chocolate. She slowly sipped it, savoring the new flavors.

"Well," she said. She paused for a second. Dillinger noticed she had whipped cream on her nose. He handed her a napkin and pointed to the cream.

"Oops!" She wiped it off and laughed. "Anyhow, I like to read a lot. Anything that Sam has on his bookshelf. And I like to go for walks around the city. There are so many hidden places. People are so strange here, too. I like to watch them." She looked out of the store window.

"How do you mean?"

"People aren't like programs, you know. Some of them don't know their purpose. They spend so much time running around that they can't even see what's in front of them."

"I suppose you're right, but that doesn't make us all bad."

"Oh no! I didn't mean that at all. It's just that we're so different. Now that I'm here, I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be doing. I guess I'm more like a human here. I know Sam wants me to help him bring back the ISOs, but he's never around to help." Dillinger saw an opportunity.

"You know I could use your help, Quorra." He looked at her to see her reaction. She was close to Sam and he was very protective of her. He didn't want to make the mistake of moving too quickly.

"What would I do?" she asked. She didn't seem too defensive. She leaned in closer to the table, a sign of interest.

"Well you could help us with the research. We would need some of your genetic material."

"I did that for Sam. It wasn't a problem."

"And we'd need your help. Possibly even need to modify your identity disc. Would you be ok with that?"

"Sure." She seemed happy that she could finally do something, finally help. She was happy to be needed again. Dillinger smiled back. "We'd be more than happy to have you on our team, Quorra. You'd be a really big help." He sipped his mocha and leaned back in his chair crossing his leg over his knee. They sat watching the people pass by. A woman in a red dress with an umbrella walked by the window. Dillinger couldn't help staring at her as she walked away.

"You like her?"

"What do you mean?"

"You were watching her. Do you like her?"

"I like looking at her. But I don't think I'd like her. She's not really my type."

"What's a type?" He looked at her.

"A type, well. That's all the things you like about a person. Some people like dark hair. Some people like blondes. Some people like um, other things."

"So what's your type?"

"I like smart women." He leaned back again and smiled.

"Ah." Quorra was quiet for a moment. "I like people who don't make me feel small." Dillinger smiled. That made a lot of sense to him. Sam and the others had been ignoring her, making her feel inferior, just a subject in their experiments. He had a sudden desire to be protective of her. She was fragile in this world, a delicate rose. Of course her help in his work would be more important. No need for things to get complicated. He watched as she looked down at her watch.

"Oh," she stood up. "I have to get back. I'm supposed to take Marv for a walk. Thanks for the hot chocolate. It was delicious!" Dillinger smiled as he watched her go.

"I'll call you, ok?" he said.

"Sure! I can't wait," she said as she left the cafe. Dillinger picked up his phone and made a call. He'd be looking forward to it too.


	13. The Price of Free Will

**Author's Note: So I'm updating _again_, just because I thought the last chapter was a little dull. I just didn't want you to think I was abandoning Quorra or Dillinger all together~! (believe me there will be more of them). I wanted to thank all of the people who have been reading this story. I really appreciate the fact that you take the time to read what I write. So now it's time to answer some questions. I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I did writing i **

**PS. ****Vince () I really appreciated the review even though I couldn't respond to it. I actually really hope that some of my concepts and ideas end up in the sequel but only time will tell. **

**Now without further ado, the story!  
**

The Price of Free Will.

Sam's battle with Marbak had left him shaken and confused. He had assumed that Marbak meant that he shouldn't find the keys, that he should stop looking for them. But Sam was stubborn. Threats couldn't keep him from looking for the keys his father had left behind. Even if those threats had almost killed him.

He flew his light jet towards the towers near the gate where he and Quorra had left the grid. He left a blue train behind the plane as he swerved to avoid the buildings. The sea below him was pitch black flecked with light from the abandoned structures above. He was looking for signs of life along the shoreline, but so far there had been nothing to show for it.

The engine of the light jet stuttered. He thought he had recharged the power on the light baton, but clearly there was something wrong with the plane. Suddenly, the plane dropped through the sky and then leveled off. He jerked against the seatbelt. "Oh Shit!" The plane dropped again and started to spiral. The blue trails began to coil as he descended. He tried pulling up on the controls, but nothing was working. His plane was going down and all he could do was brace for impact. At the time he wasn't thinking of anything but survival. Only later would sabotage cross his mind.

He hit the ground and the plane bounced. One of the wings snapped, but the cockpit remained intact. He was lucky. The soft sand dunes broke his impact. The plane rolled to the right and came to a stop. Sam realized he was lucky to be alive. The metal of the ship had nearly collapsed on top of him.

He managed to climb out of the cockpit and roll onto the sand. He felt bruised and he had a gash on his forearm. Other than that, he was simply dazed by the whole experience. Then he fell. He realized that his injuries must have been worse than he thought. He pulled himself to a standing position and tried to move forward.

The Sea of Simulation crashed against the rocks. He walked along the shore searching for some kind of shelter. He realized that this is where Quorra must have been born. He knew that the sea was dead, killed by CLU's isomorphic virus, but it had been a source of life. He was in awe of its power. He stumbled again and realized he had more important things to think about.

A beam of light flashed from a cave near the water. As soon as Sam noticed it, it disappeared. "That's funny," Sam thought. "Maybe someone lives there." He stumbled towards the cave, hoping that someone might be there to help him dress his wounds. At least the cave would provide some shelter. But he was lost. Where was the cave?The light flashed again and he could see the outline of the cave against the pitch black sky. It was like the cave, or something in it, was calling him.

When he arrived at the mouth of the cave, he looked inside. A program wearing a hooded cloak huddled over a small energy orb. The orb was warm, radiating power. The program noticed Sam and gestured for him to sit.

"Come," the program said. His voice was gravely and worn as though the program had been through many battles. "Enjoy the warmth for a while."

Sam sat down to the side of the program. His hands were numb from the cold wind that blew over the sea. "Thank you." The two of them sat in silence for a few moments.

"You're injured." The program said. "Let me see if I can help you." He took a look at Sam's arm. "Ooh, that doesn't look good." He pulled out a small case from a bag by his knee. He pulled out a bandage and began to dress the wound.

"Thank you," Sam said again. It was lucky that he had found a friendly program out here in the wilderness. "What's your name? If you don't mind me asking."

"I no longer have a name." The program looked down at the floor of the cave. It was nearly impossible to see his face through the hood, but Sam could make out a handsome nose, pale skin. He had a strange thought that he looked like Alan. But Alan had never been in the grid. He had said so himself.

"How did a user like you get out here?" The program even sounded like Alan, Sam thought. It reminded him of the many times Alan had chided him over the years, as he tried to take Sam under his wing. Alan would probably have some choice words for him regarding his crash landing.

"I guess you could say I fell out of the sky." The program laughed.

"Me too, then," it said.

"You know I can't seem to put my finger on it, but you seem familiar to me." Sam tried to look more closely at the program's face, but it backed farther into the shadows.

"You don't say."

"Yeah it's funny. I know someone in the real world, a guy named Alan Bradley. He's a friend." Sam paused, thinking about all that he'd been through. "I bet he'd go crazy if he knew what was in here."

At the mention of Alan's name, the program looked up. The hood fell away, and Sam could see his face. He immediately recognized him.

"Tron!" Sam gasped. "You were the champion of the users! My father told me about you. What are you doing here?"

"Your father?"

"My father, Kevin Flynn. He said you were a great warrior who fought for the users." Sam was astonished. He never believed he'd actually get a chance to meet his childhood hero.

"Sam?" Tron seemed to falter. "You're Sam Flynn?"

"Yeah, Tron. It's nice to meet you." Tron was silent. He looked at Sam, taking in the details of his face, analyzing the features, checking to make sure. He seemed almost sad, forlorn. He was thinking about the past.

"Tell me your father's birthday."

"What?"

"Your father's birthday. What was it?"

"January 21, 1950." Tron reacted with disbelief.

"You're really Sam! Sam how did you get here?" Sam told him about his time in the Grid. How his father had given his life to save him and Quorra.

"Quorra?"

"She's the last ISO, as far as we know."

"Of course your father would die protecting an ISO," Tron said, mostly to himself.

"What happened to you?"

"You probably figured it out by now, but I was repurposed by Clu. He took me in, changed me. I remember a few things, here and there, about what I did when I was _him_."

"Rinzler," Sam said. It was almost a whisper. He flashed back to his battle on the arena floor. "I barely survived that battle."

"I remember. Something inside of me made me pull back. As soon as I realized you were a user, I knew I had to stop. Clu probably would have killed you." Sam looked at Tron. He knew he was right

"The next thing I remember was flying that light jet, chasing you and your father. I heard your father's voice, and the next thing I knew, I was awake. I knew what I had to do. As I fell, Clu grabbed my light baton, and I fell into the Sea of Simulation."

The orb flickered again. Sam could hear the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. It felt like a storm was coming. Lighting flashed through the blue-grey sky.

"The sea changed something in me. As I was drowning I heard a voice. It spoke to me from afar using my old name. It told me that I need to fight my own battles." He looked at Sam. Sam thought he seemed worn out, sad even. "After I came to, I came here to rest. I managed to scrounge up this cloak and a few provisions, the fire orb, some bandages. I've been here ever since."

"You're still Tron, right?" Sam asked. "The Sea changed you back?"

"I used to be Tron. I used to be Rinzler too. Now I'm not sure who or what I am anymore. It's like I've been washed completely clean. Now I don't even have a purpose. Back then I always had a purpose." Sam thought that was a very human thing to say.

"Well I don't know. I mean sometimes they say that your purpose in life is to find your purpose," Sam said. He moved close to the orb, trying to catch some of the warmth.

"Find my purpose?" Tron looked confused. Sam realized that as a program he had no way of understanding what that meant.

"Maybe the sea did change you, but that doesn't mean you can't be who you are. You're still Tron to me."

"I don't know. I feel like that part of me is gone now."

"You'll get it back." Sam wasn't sure, but he tried to reassure his hero. He couldn't believe that this was Tron. The Tron he knew would have had more confidence. There was a soft beep that came from near where Tron was sitting. Tron turned and looked in the pocket of his cloak. There was something glowing there. "I almost forgot!"

"Sam," he reached in and pulled out a pearl. It was glowing with blue light. A flash of light and the pearl turned into a baseball. "I remember now. Something your father gave me. I kept it hidden. Even Clu wasn't able to find it. It must have been activated when you arrived here." He handed the ball to Sam and Sam looked at it. It was digital. It floated there in his hand.

"He called it 'a key.' He told me to give it to you if something ever happened to him. I think now is the time."

Sam looked at it. The ball changed and Sam could see images of his father and himself playing ball at the baseball diamond.

* * *

_Sam!_

_Sam had just made it onto his school's baseball team, and the two of them were practicing. Flynn laughed and threw the ball. He ran as fast as he could but the ball dropped through his hands and hit the ground. _

_ That's ok, Sam try again. Keep your eye on the ball. _

_Sam threw the ball back. Flynn watched as the frustrated look on Sam's face turned into a smile. That's my boy, he thought. My boy is growing up. Flynn smiled and threw the ball again. This time Sam caught it._

_I did it dad! _

_The smile and his laughter echoed out from the orb. _

_My boy. He'll be something someday. _

* * *

Then the memory faded. The baseball returned to its original shape and then collapsed. Sitting in Sam's hand was a small digital pearl. It changed into bits of data and the bits flowed into the disc around Sam's neck. The memory had returned to its source.

"He always talked about you, Sam," Tron said quietly. "He loved you so much. At the time I didn't really know what love was, but the way he talked about you was so beautiful. I could almost understand it. I think you should know that." A tear traced a line down the side of Sam's cheek. Memories of his father came flooding back. He realized how much he had been holding inside. Maybe eight hours had been long enough to bring something back, something like love.

Tron looked up. "Sam," he said. "Do you feel that?" Sam said he didn't feel anything.

"It's like a song. Something is calling me. I can feel it." Tron looked at Sam's dog tag, the one that held his father's disc. "It's coming from the pearl inside the disc, or it's like that. I can hear another song coming from far away." Tron stood up and walked outside the cave.

"Yes I can hear it now. There are more of them out there." Sam stood up and went to where Tron was standing.

"Can you help me find them?" Sam asked.

"Sam, I think that's what I'm supposed to do. I think that that's what I _want_ to do." Tron had a new purpose in the grid, one he had chosen for himself. He was no longer just a program. The sea had turned him into something else. Now he would be haunted by the fact that every decision he made would be his own. There wouldn't be anyone he could stand behind. No excuses. And he would have to live with all the consequences of his actions. It was the price of having free will.

He stared off into the distance. He didn't know what the future would hold, but he knew that he wanted to see it for himself. "Let's go Sam," he said. "I think I know where the next key is." The two of them set off, back in the direction of Tron City.


	14. First Meetings and Chance Encounters

Dillinger at End of Line

Two nights before, Dillinger had made a stop at the End of Line club. He was looking for information. It was easy for him to go unnoticed, since most programs had no idea there were other users on the grid besides Sam. Most of the work he had been doing was covert. Nothing that would get him noticed.

Ed was sitting at the bar, when he saw the owner of the place, a program named Zuse. He was very flamboyant, waving his cane around, yelling for more drinks, louder music. He was followed by a beautiful female program. When Zuse saw Dillinger, his eyes seemed to light up for a second. He started walking towards the bar.

"I have a good feeling I know why you're here, _user_." Zuse came close. "You should come with me. It wouldn't do any good if they found you here. Sam Flynn has eyes everywhere." Dillinger was surprised at how quickly he had been discovered, and even more surprised that Zuse knew he wasn't just there to have a good time. But he figured if anyone could provide accurate information it would be Zuse. The two of them went upstairs to his private quarters. The female program followed behind them.

"You are Edward Dillinger Jr.. So nice to meet you." It wasn't a question. He flourished his cane and gave a little bow. "You know there are some programs out there who wouldn't think twice about killing a user like you. You should be more careful." Dillinger seemed confused.

"I thought programs saw their users as gods."

"Well, yes. But many don't believe in them anymore. And your father was partly to blame. Creating that Master Control Program was quite nasty business for us here in our world. And then there was the whole matter of CLU." Zuse brushed off his suit. Clearly he did not have fond memories of CLU either. "Some of us believe that users only create problems." He paused and looked Dillinger straight in the eye. It was strange. He had the strange feeling that Zuse could see through him.

"In any case I believe you are here for some information? Perhaps you are looking for the Keys of Flynn?"

"I've heard of them," Dillinger tried to stall. Dillinger wasn't sure how much Zuse knew, but clearly he had the upper hand. Zuse was a program who was well known for being up on all the latest juicy bits of intel. "But I'm not sure they would be any use to me. They're just old relics from an old user."

"Indeed." Zuse seemed upset that Dillinger hadn't pushed the issue.

But Dillinger continued, "but it would be interesting if they turned out to be more than that." Zuse smiled.

"I can see you are a smart man. Nothing less from the great Edward Dillinger. Let me get you a drink." He passed over something green with little tiny ice cubes in it.

Dillinger was a little afraid about drinking it, but took it anyhow. It was surprisingly refreshing. He felt energized.

"Those keys do seem interesting. What do you think they are?" He played with the small plastic umbrella in his glass.

"I think you know more than you think," Zuse said and smiled. "I know you have some programs snooping around the grid. Believe me, I also have programs in high places." He laughed. "But anyhow, what can _really _I do for you, Mr. Dillinger?"

"You're a program with information," he continued. "I want information."

"All information has a price. I'm willing to help you, but you have to do something for me first." Zuse smiled.

"Which is?"

"I want you to make me your partner. Anything you do in the grid, I want to be informed about it. In turn, I can help you turn this place around, and make it profitable for you. This place could be so much more, don't you think?" He looked Dillinger right in the eye, testing him, seeing if he would flinch. He didn't.

"I have big plans, and I need your help. I actually have a current problem that you might be able to do something about. "

"Which is?," he said. He put out his hand, and Zuse took it.

Zuse took a sip of his drink. "There's a program that's been getting in the way of my plans. It's a system monitor named Cyphen. He is bringing people into his fold, and he is extremely dangerous. I need you to get rid of him for me."

"Do you know where I can find him."

"Yes and I'll tell you all about it. But come! Let's have more drinks! I'm suddenly in the mood for some fun! All work and no play, you know." He smiled. This was going to be the start of a beautiful relationship.


	15. Training Day

Training Day

It was the night after Sam had fought Marbak. Jayla was sitting at the computer terminal in the lab waiting for the results of a test from the day before. She had elected to be the "night owl" that day and that meant staying after hours to keep tabs on the programs. Computers didn't sleep, Harry often said, so programmers shouldn't either. Of course he was the one who got to go home and sleep tonight.

Ever since Sam's failed experiment, they were working around the clock to try and build a better delivery system for the simulation program. Jayla didn't really believe that it could be done given their resources and knowledge about the Grid. She thought it would be better to go back to square one. What did any of them know about the grid really? The whole crew had probably asked themselves that question at least once or twice. Flynn hadn't exactly left them with a Grid Instruction Manual, so they were pretty much left to their own devices. Even the basics were weird.

She thought about what she had seen of the grid. This world within a computer that was always covered in blue night. Where light and time made no sense. The games. The testing ground. Cities that looked like they were made completely out of ice. Dark cliffs and mountains of the overland. It was such beautiful, weird world.

A chat window popped open on the screen in front of her. That's strange, she thought. I wasn't expecting any messages, and this is a closed system. She read the message.

_User. _

_I have a message for you. It is important. Meet me in the arena. You will know who I am. _

Jayla typed back: Who are you? How will I know.

_I am a messenger. _

Cyphen?

_Some call me that, yes. _

What message do you have for me? How will I find you?

_Come to the practice arena. I will be there tomorrow at midnight. Battle me and you will have your answers. _

But I'm not good.

_It doesn't matter. When we meet I will tell you what to do. There isn't much time left. I must..._

The chat window snapped shut.

Something told her that she should go to the arena. Even though she wasn't good at the games, a nagging feeling said that this was too important to miss. Wherever Cyphen was, she hoped he was ok.

Jayla spent the next day building a new avatar. It wasn't perfect and she felt strange using it. For one thing, it had legs. When she had connected the neural net, she tried to remember the feeling in her legs. Sometimes she felt that she still had them, some kind of phantom limbs. She used that feeling to move around in the world of the grid.

She made her program quick, stealthy and fierce. When she started designing her avatar she had used the male prototype. She hadn't thought much about the way her avatar would actually look. She knew that it didn't really matter what you looked like in the grid. Somehow that was reassuring. In the end, the program she made was perfectly suited for fighting in the disc wars.

She realized that the whole situation was sort of familiar. "So I've become that guy from Avatar," she laughed softly to herself. "Oh brother." But she had to admit, it was nice to have legs again, even if they were just virtual. And she was also happy that she wasn't bright blue or naked.

She put on her touchstone and entered the arena, and there it was standing across the arena from her. The battle arena had been encrypted so that only the two of them could enter.

_Come on. Fight me. _

The program stepped forward. She could feel it speaking to her, but it wasn't making any sound. It was like hearing a voice in her mind. She realized it was speaking to her through the touchstone. It was a simple program with a blue identity disc. Jayla held back. Having given her the chance to take initiative, the program quickly moved forward and threw its disc. Jayla quickly realized the disc wasn't just a simple identity disc when it sent a wave of small bombs flying in all directions. She barely missed being hit.

_Too slow. Try again._

This time she didn't hesitate. She pulled out her disc and raced forward. As Cyphen moved forward to meet her she faked right and ducked under his arm as he swung to throw his disc. He turned and she feinted again to the right. He caught the move and smacked her in the jaw with his disc.

_You were lucky I was just using my stasis disc. Otherwise you'd be programming yourself a new face._

Stasis disc or not, Jayla could still feel the pain from the impact. She had thought that it would be like a video game where you wouldn't feel it in real life. But with the touchstone things were different. She rubbed her jaw. Her program did the same.

_Again._

Cyphen waited for Jayla's attack. He was incredibly patient, using his body to duck and weave. He effortlessly evaded each of Jayla's attacks. She was breathing heavily.

"You said you had something to tell me," she yelled across the arena. She doubled over trying to catch her breath. She had been putting every ounce of her energy into the match, but couldn't seem to gain any ground.

_I do._

Cyphen flung his disc at Jayla's head. It swerved through the air, but remained on target.

She yelled and moved out of the way of the attack. "Hey give me a break!"

_You wouldn't get one in a real battle, so why should I give you one now? Again!_

Jayla rushed forward to attack. Cyphen easily parried each strike. As she became more and more tired, she started to slow down. Cyphen sensed her fatigue, and he finally ended their training match.

_You were better than I thought. _

"Thanks I think," she said. The two of them walked to the side of the arena. Cyphen waved his hand and two benches appeared. They sat down. "So what's your story?" Jayla asked. Cyphen holstered his disc and sat down across from her.

_It's a long story. Flynn created me. At first I was a system monitor with no name and no voice. He jokingly called me Anon. I was simply there to watch over the Grid, to make sure that Radia, the ISOs and Clu would all work together. _

He paused and shifted in his seat.

_I was there when Clu captured Tron, when Flynn fled to the outlands. At that point, I met up with Quorra and we escaped together, with the help of programs along the way. As we fled, the towers of the ISO cities crumbled behind us. In the end I had to sacrifice myself for her sake. But she made it out alive. That was what mattered. _

"Then how can you be here?" Jayla listened intently to Cyphen's story. She was in awe of his power, and his willingness to die for someone else. Clearly he took his mission very seriously.

_Flynn rebuilt me. He created me again out of gratitude for saving her. This time he gave me a name and a voice. He gave me a new purpose as well. _

"Which was?"

Cyphen took out his disc and activated it. Flynn's face rezzed to life on the screen. The figure spoke. "Cyphen, I want you to protect my legacy. If anything should happen to me, find my son and the people closest to him. I've left behind some information, that, if they should ever need it, will be of great importance to them. This is your mission now." Jayla was dumbfounded. She had only heard stories about Flynn from Sam. Here he was in living color. He was surprisingly handsome. She could see where Sam got his good looks.

"Does Sam know about this?"

_He will. I have already made contact with him. The ball, as they say, is in his court._

"Then it's up to him now."

_No. I still need your help. There are people out there who will take these keys and try and use them for their own purposes. The keys are meant for Sam alone. It is our job to protect them. _

"But why me?"

_I need eyes and ears in the real world. As a program I can not go there, at least not easily. _

"Ok but why _me?" _

_Because you of all people, stand to benefit from what Flynn has asked us to protect. The keys are conduits to an awesome power, power that can help you._

"You're saying I could be able to walk again?"

_Possibly. _

That alone was enough to make Jayla want to train harder. She wanted more than anything to return to the life she had before the accident. Her bike had been collecting dust in her garage for too long.

"Come on," she said, standing up. _ "_If you really mean what you say then we have to start training twice as hard." Cyphen stood up. If he had had a face, he would have been smiling. He pulled out his disc and moved to the other side of the training arena.

_Ok then. Again. _The two of them practiced late into the night, training for the battles to come.

**Author note: This chapter might not make so much sense if you haven't played the games. Anon is the system monitor you play as in Tron: Evolution. I wanted to make him a character in my story since I love him so much. I wanted him to have a voice and more of a personality, so here he is. As I mentioned, this story does have spoilers for the game, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't play it anyhow :D (If you've played the game I'd love to know what you think. If Anon got a personality and a voice, would this be how he would be?)  
**

**PS. Thanks for reading. I may not have so many readers who review, but I know you guys are out there! Thanks for adding me to alerts and all that too. (Ok done with the blah blah blah :D )  
**


	16. Intersection: Part A

**A/N: The next few chapters are meant to be read as one big one. I originally had two chapters, but I wanted to intertwine them. So here they are. **

INTERSECTIONS (PART A)

Tron and Sam hiked back to the solar sailer terminal at the edge of the Sea of Simulation. There was a sailer there, but it had been deactivated. Tron stepped in and looked inside. He seemed intent on finding the way to turn it back on. He went to the command center and found the main control console.

"I don't think I can turn it on. Care to give it a try?"

Sam walked up to the console. He remembered how his father had pulled up a hidden touch screen when they were falling through the elevator. He wasn't sure, but maybe he had the same power as a user. When he touched the console, it rezzed to life and a touch screen appeared in front of him.

"Well that was easy," he muttered. He turned on the sailer and turned it in the opposite direction. He pressed a button and raised the sails. They expanded like clover leaves.

"Where to, Tron?" he asked.

"Back to Tron City. I have a feeling I know where we'll go when we get there." The solar sailer began to move along the beam of light. They passed over the rocky outcroppings and jagged peaks of the outlands. Sam went up top, and Tron followed. The two of them sat on the edge of the sailer as it traced a path back to Tron City.

"My father and I sat up here once." Sam remembered how his father seemed hesitant when he said he'd like to see what Sam had done to his Ducati. Sam realized he probably knew that he'd never make it back home.

"Back in the old grid, your father and I also traveled on a solar sailer. That feels like thousands of cycles ago." The two of them sat in silence for a while. Lightning flashed across the sky. They could see Tron City now, approaching from the distance. Sam looked up just in time to see a recognizer pass overhead. As the solar sailer landed, the recognizer touched down and intercepted them. Then it lowered down a group of black guard soldiers.

Sam and Tron exited the sailer, and approached the guards. "What seems to be the problem, officer?" Sam asked.

"You have illegally rerouted a solar sailer. Come with us please."

"Under whose orders?" Tron asked and pushed the guard away from Sam.

"Edward Dillinger's."

"He has no authority here," Sam's temper flared. He wanted to move onto the next key. He was not about to get into a fight with someone over something as basic who could run a solar sailer. The guard stepped forward again.

"Do you know who this is?" Tron asked the guard more calmly. The guard looked at Sam. "This is Sam Flynn, the _son_ of your creator. Show some respect." The guard backed down. "Come on Sam. We have a key to find." He passed by both guards. "I'll take those," he said and grabbed their lightcycle batons.

He tossed one to Sam. "Here, let's go." He turned back and gave the guard an icy stare. Sam and Tron both activated their lightcycles and raced back to Tron City. Tron brought his lightcycle close to Sam's, close enough for the two of them to talk.

"What did he mean _Dillinger's_ orders, Sam?"

"It's a long story, Tron."

"Dillinger? The creator of the MCP?"

"No, his son."

"He has a son?"

"Yes. He's my partner back in the real world. He must have started messing around down here, trying to get more control." Sam cursed even letting Dillinger into the grid. He should have known it would start to cause problems. They raced towards the city and the second key.

"We're almost there," Tron yelled. "I can hear it. Head for the center of the city. I think it's in your father's old office." They entered the city. Recognizers passed overhead. The sounds of city life were all around. They pulled up next to the tallest tower in the city and dismounted.

"This was your father's office here in the grid. He always wanted to be in the center of things." They walked past a set of security bots. "Don't worry," Tron explained. "They should be able to recognize your DNA signature and let you in." The bots scanned Sam and let him pass. They entered an elevator and Tron entered a passcode to let them up to the highest floor.

"I remembered," he said, mostly to himself.

"Remembered what?" Sam asked. He was concerned for Tron. This was a new system. A place he had only experienced as another, different, program. He wondered how the change would affect him

"I remembered the code. I remember this place. How much this meant to Flynn." He stopped and looked sadly at Sam. "Is he really gone? After all that. After all we did to save him?"

"He's gone, Tron. I'm sorry. I watched him and Clu when they reintegrated. They're both gone now."

"I guess I just hoped he was still alive here somewhere." Sam wanted to say that he did too. He really did miss his father. But he just kept silent. They arrived at the top floor. The office was the only room on the floor.

Neither of them noticed a small beeping red light coming from the com at the door. They simply stepped into the abandoned office, looking for signals from the past.


	17. Intersection: Part B

PART B

_Again. Strike again and this time make it count. _

Jayla and Cyphen had trained hard for weeks, at least it had been weeks in the grid. With the time difference between worlds, Jayla had trained harder than ever in a limited amount of real time. She spent days in the grid, each day adding up to months of training. After she told Harry and Ryden that she needed some time off, she took one of the Touchstones home and began training in earnest.

_You're slacking off. _

She threw her disc hard at Cyphen and then ran across the arena. She jumped through the air and threw a flying kick right at Cyphen's chest. He barely had time to duck before K12 caught the disc and landed on all fours. She pulled into a defensive stance and stood up. She whipped her disc through the air and held on. As the disc flew, it extended into a light whip. It wrapped around Cyphen's hand as he tried to block. She pulled hard and he fell to the ground.

_Good. Good! _

He walked off to the other side of the arena. He gestured for him to come with her, a sign that their training was over for the day. She picked up her whip, flashed it in the air and it turned back into a disc. She put her disc back in its place and went with Cyphen.

_It's finally time for you to meet my friends. I'll take you to them now. _

A beep came from a com link at Cyphen's wrist. It was some kind of alarm.

_Too late. We have to go to Tron City. Come with me. _

K12 followed without question. Cyphen's sudden change of plans meant that something was seriously wrong.

_Flynn's office has been breached. We have to hurry. _

The two programs raced out of the arena and jumped into their lightcycles. Cyphen raced towards the glowing city, and K12 followed close behind. As she rode, Jayla thought about how real this world felt. Even though she was at home in bed, she could feel the way the lightcycle felt underneath her, her legs hugging the bike as she steered. Part of her could feel the adrenaline coursing through her body as she raced through an unreal world.


	18. Intersection: Part C

Intersection: PART C:

The Second Key

As Sam approached the door, a small trail of light came from his father's identity tag and flowed towards the door, interacting with it. There was a small beep, and the door clicked. Sam pushed the door handle, and the door opened.

Tron entered. He thought he could almost see Flynn here in his old office. He remembered the excitement they had both shared, building the new grid. He remembered Clu's concerns, his complaints about ISOs and Flynn's denials. The nights they spent discussing the future of the grid, building, rebuilding, taking it all back. Back then, things seemed so much easier.

"Hey," Sam said as he followed Tron. "Do you still hear it?" Tron listened for the sound, the sound of the creator calling him back. He heard it, faintly, coming from a filing cabinet on the other side of the room.

"There," he pointed. Sam walked over to the cabinet. There were three unlabeled drawers. The cabinet and an old desk were the only two pieces of furniture in the room. Again, there was a trail of light from Flynn's disc and the drawer unlocked itself. The only thing in the drawer, besides a stack of empty files, was a small journal. The pages were worn. It was strangely real, brown in color. Something that didn't seem to belong in the cool blue world of the Grid.

Tron had stepped over to the window and was looking out over Tron City. He watched lightcycles passing by below, their trails dancing by behind them. Sam watched him for a moment and then turned back to the notebook.

He ran his hand over the pages. They felt warm, as though they had just been written on. He looked at the first page. It was his father's journal.

_Today we began the task of rebuilding. I brought Tron over from the old system. At first he was angry at me because I couldn't bring everyone back with me. But there was no other way. When I told him about the changes we would make, the progress we would see, he came around to my way of thinking. I have so much to do, so many hopes. This time around I know we can make the perfect system. _

A few pages later:

_Today, I created a new version of Clu. He will be my eyes and ears when I can't be here in the Grid. I'm glad that Tron and Clu get along. They make a great team. We all make a great team. _

Sam looked through the pages. It seemed like he had already spent hours just reading and rereading his father's words. Then he stopped at an entry, almost at the end of the journal. He read the entry. It was about him.

_My son, Sam, is the most beautiful thing that's ever happened to me. He's seven now. How time really flies. I was talking to him about the grid, telling him stories, and he lights up like a Christmas tree every time. Next week, after Clu and I finalize our plans for the ISOs, I want to bring him here. I think I'll show him the lightcycles first. I bet he'll go crazy over them. _

Sam paused. This must have been one of his last entries before he was trapped in the grid. He watched as the journal changed, blinked blue and digitized. He watched as the data turned into an image, a movie, from the past.

_His father was writing in the notebook, sitting at his desk. He was smiling as he wrote. Tron and Clu were discussing something, but he wasn't paying attention. He just looked down at the journal, writing about his beloved son. He finished the entry, and put the journal away. He went over and talked with Clu and Tron. He seemed happy and at peace, ready to take on the world. He put his arm around the two programs. They were going to do big things. _

Then the image faded and turned back into the brown notebook. The notebook turned to a pearl and the pearl digitized and entered the disc at Sam's neck. Sam noticed that Tron was also watching the image as it disappeared.

"Those were better times," he said softly.

"Yeah," Sam supposed he was right. "So now where to, Tron?" Before Tron could answer, the sound of sirens in the hallway made them both stop in their tracks. The journal had been digitized, so there was nothing to worry about, except getting out of there alive.

"Sam, get down!" Tron pushed Sam aside as a flash bomb blew out one of the side panels in the hall. Sam ducked and rolled as the wall came down, nearly smashing on top of him. He was nearly pinned to the wall bleeding from a scrape on his upper arm. The shock started to seep through his body. As he slipped into unconsciousness he thought that maybe this time there would be no way out.

**A/N: Sorry for all the back to back updates. Again I originally wrote all of these as two separate chapters but the flow of the story didn't feel right. They were too long, now they're too short...gwah! Well there's only one more of these and then on to the rest of the story! :D (again thanks for reading!).  
**


	19. Linking Points

_On the Road to Tron City..._

Jayla raced after Cyphen on their way to Tron City. At the rate they were going they would be there soon, but would it be soon enough? She pulled up close to Cyphen.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"We set a link on the door to Flynn's office, just in case anyone tried to break in. One of the keys is located there. I just got word that the office has been breached. My friends should also have received the signal. We need to make it there in time."

"In time for what?"

"To save the key."

They continued their race into the dark blue night.

* * *

_Sam was dreaming. He was back in his father's office. He couldn't see well, the lights had been dimmed, but he thought he saw a figure sitting at his father's desk. His back was turned, so Sam couldn't see who it was. He moved closer to the chair, kneeling down, and he saw his father's figure. _

_ His father's figure, frozen in time. _

_ "Dad," Sam said hesitantly. His father looked strange, younger, a bit like Clu. Sam reached out and touched him on the shoulder. His touch caused the figure to break apart. He watched in horror, powerless and unable to change anything, as the glass figure began to disintegrate, breaking down into bits of data that shattered and fell to the floor._

_ "Dad!" Sam was screaming. "Dad!"  
_

_

* * *

_

"Sam snap out of it!" It was Tron. Sam was groggy, but he was slowly coming back to consciousness. "You need to get out of here! I'll take care of these guys." Tron had managed to pull the pieces of wall that had trapped Sam away and bent down to see if he was injured.

"I can take care of myself, Tron." Sam tried to follow Tron down the hall. Tron turned.

"I'm not losing you too, Sam. Go!" Sam raced around the corner and back to the elevator. Tron was busy fighting three infected black guard programs. He made quick work of them, only to be ambushed by another three programs. They just kept coming.

Sam ran to the elevator bank only to see a single program approaching him. "Guess whoever's sending these guys doesn't think too highly of me," he thought. The program was glowing yellow. Sam looked more closely. He thought he recognized the program from somewhere. It was Marbak, the program he had battled in the disc wars. But it wasn't Marbak. He had derezzed Marbak. "What the hell?"

"The program you're thinking of doesn't exist any more, Sam Flynn." The program removed its identity disc and advanced. "My name is Rayth. I've been sent to kill you. But you probably already figured that one out." Sam was retreating, moving back instinctively towards Tron.

"You won't get out that way," Rayth sneered. "My brothers will see to that. The only way out is through me." The program was gloating.

"Fine," Sam said. He took out his identity disc and took a ready stance. The hallway was narrow. Rayth ran up the side of the wall and nearly landed on Sam's shoulders. Sam rolled to the side and stood up, but Rayth was there to meet him. Sam struck out with his disc. Rayth met him blow for blow.

"Now do you see why it's impossible?" Rayth had his disc close to Sam's throat. "You might as well surrender."

"No way in hell!" Sam pushed Rayth off of him and jumped back. He took a deep breath and prepared for the next round of attacks. Tron was still fighting the seemingly endless barrage of yellow programs that threatened to overwhelm him. He was using his double light discs but even that didn't seem to be helping much.

"Sam! Look out!" Tron yelled.

Sam turned back to see Rayth leap through the air. Before Rayth could land, a green identity disc sliced through the air and shattered the program's arm. Rayth tumbled and hit the ground hard. The disc rebounded back down the hall.

"Run Sam Flynn! Get out of here while you still can! Let us handle this." A program with green circuitry came running from the far end of the hall. Sam could see that other programs were helping Tron fight off the programs that had been attacking him. He wanted to help, but he did as he was told. He ran back to the elevator. He could hear the sound of glass breaking, the sound of deresoutions, all around him.

Tron found him, breathing hard, by the elevator. "Are you ok?" he asked.

"I'm ok, but who were all those programs?"

"Sam there was something I almost forgot to tell you. But I'll tell you all about it when we get in the elevator." The green program came around the corner along with two other programs. There was a purple program with two light whips, and a blue system monitor with a square jaw.

"It's good to meet you, Sam Flynn," the green program said. "Don't worry. All your questions will be answered in time." Sam sighed. Where had he heard that one before? They entered the elevator and went back to the ground floor and the lights of Tron City. Someone, somewhere, would have a lot of explaining to do.


	20. Mestre

MESTRE

**(a/n mestre means master in Portuguese. I'm borrowing the term from capoeira since I like it more than "teacher" :D) **

Before the end of their battle and before he met Sam, the green program had chased Rayth through the hall to a large glass window overlooking the city below.

"You have no place to run," it said. "You should give up."

"Never!" Rayth screamed. He threw a bomb and the window exploded. Before the green program could react, Rayth had already jumped from the window into a light jet. The green program looked out as the light jet left green trails in its wake as it sailed through the night sky.

The program put his disc away and went to see how the others were doing. He had a feeling he'd be seeing Rayth again.

Tron and Sam were waiting by the elevator with Cyphen and K12.

"You're Sam Flynn, aren't you?" Sam was still slightly shell-shocked from the battle. He simply nodded his head.

"Nice to finally get the chance to meet you. My name is Orion." He reached out his hand, and Sam shook it. Orion smiled and turned to Cyphen.

"Not quite the grid warrior I was expecting."

"Give him a break. You should have seen him in the arena. It was quite something." Cyphen dusted himself off. Powder from the shattered wall still floated in the air.

Orion scoffed. "Well just because you can fight in the arena doesn't mean you can fight out here." Sam coughed, trying to get their attention.

"You do realize I can hear you, right?" Sam was getting frustrated by all this "protecting" and babysitting everyone seemed required to do. Orion looked sheepish. Cyphen held back a laugh.

"We should go anyhow. More introductions later. The others will be waiting for us." Orion pulled out his lightcycle baton. Then he looked over and saw Tron.

"No, how are you here?"

"It's been a while hasn't it?" Tron looked to Orion, gauging his reaction. He knew that he didn't deserve his trust, not yet. The things he had done in the arena, the programs he'd killed, he knew he'd have a lot to make up for.

Tron remembered the time before Clu's betrayal. The grid was unstable and viruses became commonplace. Flynn had the idea to train programs so they could be ready for battle against rogue programs and viruses. He had given the task of training them to Tron.

"I don't have time for this, Flynn!" Tron said when Flynn had first asked.

"But you're the only one who can do it, man. I need you for this."

"If I'm out there training them, then who will protect you?"

"It won't take up all of your time, Tron. But I need your help. I've created a special game that will level up each program individually. But you need to show them how to fight. It'll be easy for you."

Tron was helpless to say no to Flynn. It wasn't in his programming. But he knew that this would put stress on him and the system. But it was a good idea. The more programs he trained, the less he'd have to do in the grid. Short term frustrations for long term gains.

"Alright, Flynn. You know I could never say no to you."

His first attempt at training programs was mostly a failure. He remembered the first day. He wasn't a teacher. He was a warrior. Twenty or so programs stood in front of him. For many it was their first time holding an identity disc, let alone fighting in the disc wars. Tron put his hand on his forehead and prayed to Alan1 that he could do this. "Hello, programs. Today is the first day of your training. For those of you who do not have them, you will be given an identity disc. This disc is your weapon, so guard it closely." He watched as a few of the programs shifted uncomfortably. One was scratching its head with the disc. They were young. They all looked so young. A few of the programs had more determination. He made a note of each one, the ones he thought would have some promise.

At first he wasn't sure where to start. He had the programs fight each other, but that was pointless since many of them didn't know how to throw a disc. He decided to go back to square one.

"Today we are going to practice throwing discs. Aim for the four targets at the back of the arena." There. That wouldn't be too hard.

A program named Beck went first. His disc barely made it half way to the target before returning to his hand. "Try again, program," Tron commanded. Again the disc fell short.

Tron knew he was doing it wrong, but he wasn't sure why. A teacher's job was to break down a task into manageable instructions, but Tron had always instinctively done things. It was in his programming. These programs had to learn their programming. Tron forced Beck to try again and again, finally the two of them ended their training and moved on. Tron was frustrated, mostly with himself, because he couldn't help Beck get any better.

But after a while it became more natural. He had to force himself to slow down, to analyze how he acted in battle and what made him a successful warrior. And as he learned, he passed that information to his students. How to protect oneself in a match. How to make the best use of an identity disc as a weapon. As his students grew, so did he as a teacher. He knew more now about fighting and about the intricacies of battle because he was a teacher. He watched as his programs began to understand the motions and movements of the grid. He watched them level up until at last they were ready to fight outside the game grid.

He remembered his first graduating class.

"You are here to fight for our user Kevin Flynn. His ideals are our ideals. Our creator made us who we are. It is now our turn to return the favor by protecting him and the grid that he created." He stood on the stage in front of his first group of graduates. Ten programs had made it through to level 100 and had attained the title of Elite. He looked over the group. They deserved to be there. Orion had been one of the hardest workers.

"All of you have trained hard for this. And I couldn't be prouder of all of you. Even though you have reached the last level of the game, remember that you can always learn more. You can always evolve and become stronger." One by one, each program passed by and received their badge. As he handed each program their own ranking badges, he thought about what they had done here. Tron had created, or at least helped to create, new programs in his image. Perfect grid warriors. But he hoped that the future didn't need them. That at most, they would continue as guardians.

Even after the purges, his soldiers had continued their fight. Even when Flynn had been outcast, and himself barely saved from Clu, his soldiers had continued their struggle. He wasn't training soldiers to protect Flynn, though that was part of the deal. He was training warriors for a revolution.

Warriors he would eventually betray.

Tron recalled flashes of his time a Rinzler. As the other him. He watched as he destroyed programs that he had trained. He knew exactly how to beat them because he had taught them everything they knew. Clu would bring them to the game grid and make a spectacle of their deaths. It was how he kept the programs in line and entertained. And the most horrifying thing was that even then, Tron enjoyed the games. He enjoyed killing. Some part of him would always carry that with him. That other him. The betrayal stung, because he knew it was the truth. And now, he'd have to find a way to make it up to Orion and the others, because it was the only way he could live with himself.


	21. RE:introductions

Re:Introductions

Tron snapped back to reality.

"Tron?" Orion moved closer. "You can't be him. Tron was repurposed by Clu." Orion stepped back again and grabbed for his razor disc.

"Wait!" Sam pushed Orion back and stood in front of Tron. "He _is_ Tron. He saved my life. And he saved my father's life." Orion put his disc away, but he wasn't convinced.

"Look," Orion said. "I'm not going to make up my mind one way or the other right now. But if it turns out that he's still Rinzler then I will personally derezz him myself. Let's go." They mounted their lightcycles. Orion lead the way.

Sam pulled up close to Tron. "Where are we going? Who are these people," he yelled. He was tired. He was also tired of being dragged along and told he couldn't fight. He already knew he could hold his own against programs that wanted to kill him, and he had no desire to continue being treated like a baby, even if his father was the mighty Kevin Flynn.

"These programs are programs I trained. They fought against Clu in the wars. Now they're fighting for a new revolution." Tron sounded distant. It wasn't quite the answer Sam had been looking for, but he took it. He didn't want to put more pressure on Tron. What he wanted most now, was just to go home. Leave the grid for a while and come back when he was better rested. He also missed Quorra. He wanted to see her, to remind himself that there were good things out there. Good things worth fighting for. He drifted to the back of the pack, letting Tron pull ahead of him.

"Sam," Orion pulled up beside him. "We're going to a safe house. We've come across some information that will help you."

"Who's we?" Sam asked.

"_Tron_ didn't tell you? We're called Re:volution. We're loyal to you and your father. We're going to help you save the grid."

Sam wasn't sure what "save the grid" meant, but before he could ask, the programs arrived at a small alley in the heart of Tron City. Orion and the others dismounted and approached a hidden door. Orion knocked and a program opened a slot in the door, just wide enough to see out of.

"What's the password?" The voice of the program sounded gruff.

"Look, Aaron, you know its me..." Orion sounded annoyed.

"What's the _password!" _ the program on the other side of the door repeated.

"Ok fine. I'm a monkey's uncle. You satisfied?" The other program started to laugh. It was more like a guffaw. "Get's em every time. Come in come in." The program opened the door and ushered them in. He was slightly overweight looking green program. He had a red beard and mustache and deep blue eyes. When he saw Tron, he looked quickly at Orion who nodded his head. Aaron said nothing and shut the door behind all of them.

They entered a large poorly lit room. The programs sat down around a long oval table. It reminded Sam of the board room at Encom. At the head of the table was a hooded program. Tron recognized it as a Monk program. Monk programs had existed in the old grid, but it was rare to see one these days. Tron wondered what it was doing here.

Aaron plopped down next to Cyphen, who sat across from Sam and Tron and next to K12. Orion took his seat next to the Monk program. Sitting next to Sam was a female program with pink circuits. She wasn't wearing a helmet, and she appeared to be in her teens. Sam wasn't sure why, but she seemed brimming with excitement that she was trying hard to conceal. She was practically bouncing in her seat.

"Hey guys before we get started," she said, "I just wanted to say how excited I am to actually get to meet Sam Flynn. I've wanted to meet him ever since he started battling in the grid wars." Orion and Cyphen sat there staring. She was going to play super-fan at a time like this? On the other side of the grid, Jayla smiled. She knew what it was like to be a fan like that. Especially of someone as yummy as Sam.

"Sam." She jumped up and down and turned to him. "It's totally awesome to meet you. My name's Lyta."

"She used to be a chat room program," said Orion by way of an explanation.

"Thanks. It's nice to meet you too. Lyta, right?" She nodded and smiled. Jayla could tell she was in heaven now that her favorite grid warrior knew her name. Sam, on the other hand, seemed oblivious. He was too tired to focus. In fact he had already let her name slip from his memory.

The room was tense. Sam thought it had a lot to do with the fact that Tron was sitting there with them. He was the obvious elephant in the conference room. "Ahem," Orion coughed and brought the meeting back into focus. Once he had everyone's attention, he began again.

"Hello to all of those who are new here. There isn't a lot of time to explain things to you, Sam, but we are on your side. We have been watching you and protecting you and your father's ambitions. As some of you know," he said, "we don't often come together like this. Given our current situation it's been too risky. But tonight we have no choice. So I think Cyphen should start by making the introductions." Cyphen stood.

"Good to see all of you," he started. "This is K12. I've been training her, and she's come a long way since we started working together. She's a user of sorts." Sam looked at the program. He realized who it was.

"Hey Sam." K12's voice sounded like it was coming from far away. But even through the helmet he could recognize who it was.

"Jayla?" Sam said.

"Yep, it's me." Sam was glad to hear the sound of a friendly voice. "I'm using one of the avatars." K12 gave Sam a thumbs up.

Cyphen continued. "She will be our eyes and ears in the real world. I would ask Sam to do that, but he has a different objective."

"You mean the keys?" Sam asked.

"Yes." Sam felt like he had a hundred questions. What were they really? What was this all leading to? "We have learned a great deal about them. But we can't use them ourselves. Apparently they were only made for you."

"About that." the monk program spoke from his position at the head of the table. His voice was warm, worn out as though he had spent many years on the grid. "I have some troubling news. May I share it now, or did you have something else in mind?"

"You mean more introductions?" Cyphen looked around the room. "Well I think it's safe to assume that we all know Sam Flynn."

"Hey," Sam said. He barely managed a smile.

"And Tron," Cyphen continued. Jayla could feel the tension in the room increase. Lyta clearly had strong feelings about Tron, since she was sitting in her chair now, her face red as though she were trying hard not to erupt like a kid volcano. Nobody wanted to speak. No one wanted to start off a conversation that might end in someone getting their head derezzed. "So no, I don't think we need any more introductions. Pastor, please continue."

The monk program began to speak.

"I am an old program. Very old. When I was younger my father told me stories about a hidden world beneath our own, a world of adventure and bravery, a world of legends. He called it the Underworld. He would sit at my bed and tell stories about a world that was like our own, only different. He would go on long into the night about how heroic programs battled in wars across a digital domain. How users were in constant communication with their programs, and now and again a user would walk among us. Things were purer, then, he told me."

Sam remembered when his father told him stories like that. It felt like eons ago. Maybe they were even the same stories. The monk program continued, and Sam shifted forward in his seat.

"Then one day, everything changed. There was a great evil that came and set a crack through the old world, not breaking it, only setting it on its path to ruin. Viruses, bugs, great evil creatures came alive and ate away at the very substance of life. The world collapsed in on itself. That old world became the Underworld, a world of death and destruction beneath our own. And had it not been for our Creator, we would not be here today. It is said that he raised us up from the ashes of that old world, to bring us to life and prosperity here in our new home.

"Now of course, I was a child then. I didn't believe in the tales. They were legends, of course, and they were nothing more. That was until recently. Our order sent scouts out to find information about the keys. Your keys, Sam. This is what they found." Pastor put a small data orb in the middle of the table.

The orb spread out into a visual of a small cave near the outlands. Three programs went into the cave. The orb followed them in like a camera. The programs headed down to the bottom of a series of caves that were interconnected. Data bats flew down from the ceiling and one of the programs brushed them aside.

When they reached the bottom of the cave, there was a huge silver door crafted from some unknown metal. The door had been cracked open, just slightly so a program could make their way through. The three programs entered through the crack in the door. Again the orb followed.

What Tron saw then made him gasp. It was the old grid. He should have expected it. He should have understood what Pastor had been talking about. They weren't legends. He had lived them.

The orb revealed a mass grave. There were bodies of programs strewn across the digital ground. The whole world was glowing with a sickly green light. Pools of polluted energy were everywhere. Firewalls had crumbled and shattered. He could see the form of a broken down recognizer. Tron felt a buzzing in the back of his mind. Something wasn't right. He heard a voice. It was softly screaming for help.

"Yori!"

"Yes, Tron. That's Yori. And she has the third key."


	22. Nightmares

**A/N: Sorry about the false alarm. (I was replacing an old chapter and uploaded a new one by mistake) I had this chapter thinking I would save it for later but I might as well post it now to make it up to you. Here's more about Q and . Enjoy!)**

NIGHTMARES

In the real world, Dillinger was watching Quorra as she slept. He had been running diagnostics on her brainwave patterns, and the last part of the test required her to sleep for an hour while the machines took readings. The blue light of the computer was the only light in the room. Dillinger had taken a break from typing to see how Quorra was doing. Over the short time they had been spending together, he was amazed at how human she seemed. And the more he'd learned about her world, the more fascinating the grid became for him.

He turned to the computer. The readings seemed normal. She was actually dreaming. He had no idea of what.

He remembered an old sci-fi show he used to watch as a kid, Babylon 5. In that show there was a race of aliens that believed that a person's true face was revealed in their sleep. If that was the case, Quorra's true face was one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. She turned over and rolled onto her side.

As he turned back to the computers to check on the data, Quorra jerked suddenly and started screaming. "No, no! Get away from me!" She was having a nightmare. His first instinct told him to keep recording, keep her asleep so he could add this data to his research. His second instinct, the one he knew was right, was to go to her and hold her.

"Wake up, Q. It's just a dream. It isn't real." She turned to face him. Her head turned slightly towards her shoulder. It was a mechanical gesture. Then her eyes popped open and she awoke.

Dillinger didn't have time to react. Quorra threw her arms around his shoulders, and for a second he didn't know what to do. Should he hug her back, or just let her sob into his pristinely ironed vest? He sat there on the bed with his arms at his sides. And then he put his arms around her, hesitantly.

"Quorra, it was just a nightmare." He was genuinely concerned. She didn't seem to know the difference between a dream and reality.

"What was that, Edward? It was so real."

"Humans dream when they go to sleep. Sometimes the dreams are bad. Like memories only worse." He found it difficult to describe what a dream was. He took it for granted. Like the sun.

"A dream? But it wasn't like my other dreams. This one was scary."

"It was a nightmare. But don't worry. You're ok now." He was suddenly aware of her body. Her chest was rising and falling against his. He could feel her breathing on his neck. He thought of leaning in for a kiss, but stopped. Not now, he thought. He couldn't risk it. Not now. But he would hold her as long as she needed him to. He owed her that much.

She pulled away from him and gave him another robotic look. He had to keep remembering that she came from the grid.

"You ok?"

"Yeah I'm ok." She jumped off the bed. Back to her old self again, she went over to the computer to look at the results. She looked at the graph of her brainwaves.

"Is that what dreaming looks like?"

"You could say that." He explained to her that dreams were electrical impulses in the brain. Quorra immediately understood. The brain was like its own little grid.

"Wow. I never knew that about the mind, but it makes so much sense." She walked around the little room as if she had never been there before.

"So are we done?" she asked.

"I guess so. I'll process the results later and we can see what we've got." Dillinger was glad to get out of that stuffy room. It was late at night, and nobody else was around. The two of them walked out.

"I can give you a ride back to your place," she suggested. Dillinger politely declined. He had no idea what would happen after that.

"I have my ride here. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure," she said and rode the Ducati back to the trailer. She had so much to tell Sam and couldn't wait until he got home.


	23. Through the Hidden Grid

THROUGH THE HIDDEN GRID.

The meeting ended and the programs went their separate ways. Aaron pulled Sam aside as they exited the abandoned building.

"I would be careful trusting him if I was you." He sounded concerned.

"You mean Tron?" Sam thought he should be careful trusting all of these programs. They seemed to know his father, but that didn't mean they were friendly. "I trust him because he saved my life."

"The sea does crazy things to programs. I don't think he's the same anymore."

"He isn't the same. He's a free program now. Free to do what he likes."

"I see. Well then you should be extra careful. He might not know what to do with all that, you know, freedom."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Aaron tossed him a device. It looked like a wristwatch on steroids. "It's a communicator. We've all got em. Just press the button and we'll come running." Sam took it. It looked like a smartphone and acted like one too. "You can also use it to record data. It should travel with you back to your world." He put it on. It felt surprisingly light on his wrist.

"Thanks." He hoped he would never have to use it. He was extremely tired and wanted to go back to the real world. He turned to Tron who had walked into the street. As he crossed, Sam noticed how disoriented he seemed. He ran to catch up with him.

"Before you say anything," Tron said, "I just want you to know that I didn't mean for that to happen."

"What?"

"That whole confrontation. He's right though. I may still be Rinzler. I don't really know myself."

"I know you aren't. You saved my life back there. You may not be fully yourself, but you're not him." Sam didn't say it out loud, but he added _otherwise you would probably have killed me by now._

"Thanks, Sam." Tron said and put his arm around the boy.

"I'm so tired, think we should call it a night?" Tron didn't understand the expression. He looked at Sam funny. "I mean I'm tired and I want to go home."

"Sam, this can't wait. The third key is out there, and we need to get it. I can't let you leave. It would take too much time. But I can find you a safe place to rest here. Will that work?"

Sam couldn't help feeling that he'd been jerked around again. It seemed like everyone cared about their own agendas and kept missing the fact that he wasn't a program. He was human. And humans needed to sleep.

"Alright. But after we find the next key, I need to get back to my world. Got it?"

Sam waved goodbye to Lyta who was jumping up and down waving across the street from them. Then the two of them went to look for a place to stay. They decided to go back to Flynn's old office.

"He used to sleep in here, when he couldn't get home in time." Tron led the way back up to second to last floor of the building. There was a nice suite there. Sam felt like he was in a hotel. There was a bed and a side table. In the closet were some of his father's old clothes. A jacket with unlit blue light tracks, a few pairs of shirts. They felt oddly cold, empty of the man who used to wear them.

He sat down on the bed. He realize he had no idea how to get out of his suit.

"Hey um, Tron. How do you get out of this thing?"

Tron was confused. He'd never had reason to take off his suit. It was simply a part of him.

"I think there's a button on the side," he suggested.

Sam found a small circular button on the side of the suit. Before he pressed it he said,

"I'm gonna need a little privacy here."

"I'll just be outside then. Someone has to guard you while you're sleeping here." Tron left. Sam pressed the button and his suit collapsed down into itself, save for that same button. He pressed it and the suit rerezzed. He pushed the button one last time and settled down to sleep. For a digital bed, it sure was warm.

* * *

Outside Tron could hear the key calling him. Even through the walls, even from miles away. He felt them because somehow they were part of his programming. They were calling him back to the things and places he didn't want to remember. But a program can never forget.

He saw the image of Yori screaming for help. The image broke his heart. He couldn't get rid of the thought that she was in pain. Back then Flynn had promised she would be safe. But even users break their promises.

He closed his eyes and remembered when Flynn had brought him back from the old grid. The old world had started to crumble. Quakes passed through the digital underground. Viruses appeared more and more frequently and started to run rampant through the system. They came like a horde eating and corrupting everything in their sight. Rogue programs threatened the security of the grid. Tron was overwhelmed trying to deal with it all.

He had confronted Flynn about the situation. "I can't do this anymore. Not without some help." They were sitting in Flynn's office in the Tron City Tower. "I've fought every breach, every threat. And I'm tired." Tron wasn't one to complain, but the situation had become out of hand. Surely Flynn himself could see it. "The system monitors are inefficient. If they could do their jobs properly then I wouldn't have as much of a problem. Or we could put up stronger firewalls. We have to do something!"

Flynn stood for a while and looked out the window into the streets below. Then after a minute, he slapped his fist into the palm of his hand and said "I'll take care of this." He had decided to finally do something about the problem, and Tron was pleased.

"You have my word, Tron. When I come back, this will all be taken care of. I promise."

Flynn disappeared, and Tron continued to fight for the programs on the grid, but there even came a time when his most valiant efforts became useless. More and more programs were getting sick. Yori set up a hospital anti-virus system, but nothing seemed to work. Tron was anxious that Yori was spending so much time around sick programs, but she insisted. She said she had found a way to protect herself. She seemed ok, so he didn't ask. But even her clinic wasn't of much use. There were too many sick programs and not enough software to go around.

Tron could feel the end approaching, and he prepared himself for the worst. And yet he believed that Flynn would return and make things right again.

Then Flynn returned. He had been away for many cycles. Tron watched from above as he rode into the city on his custom white lightcycle.

The news he brought with him had been surprising. "Tron, I've decided to build a new system," he said. "One that's faster and more efficient than this one."

Tron stared at Flynn. He didn't know how to process this. He almost didn't believe him.

"You're starting from scratch?"

"Yep. Brand new. You can see it too can't you? This system is too old, too rundown. We can make a better system. We can make the _perfect_ system." Tron just stood there. He moved away from Flynn and looked out the window over the city. Before long all of this would be gone. His whole world would be erased.

"What will happen to me? What will happen to all the other programs?"

"You're coming with me, man! You're the best security program around!"

"And the others?"

"Well," Flynn paused. He clearly hadn't thought that far ahead. Tron felt the sting of betrayal. "Well, most of them would need to be reconfigured to become part of the new grid, and that takes time, and," he paused.

"It would be better to start from scratch," Tron said coldly. He knew Flynn well enough to know that once he started a plan there was no stopping him. It would be useless to get in his way.

"What about Yori?" he asked, fearing the answer.

"Tron, you know she's doing good work here. The other programs need her. She can stay and help them."

Tron stared at Flynn. He knew that there was something else going on here. He decided to press the issue and call him out on the one thing he had been holding back all this time.

"It's because she loved me more than you isn't it? You would send her to a fate worse than death because she loved me?" Tron had never felt so much anger swirling in his circuits. He stepped towards Flynn. "You can't, you can't ask me to do this!" He was nearly close enough to hurt him. His circuits flashed a cold blue. He forced himself to take a step back. Then he clenched his fist tightly and let his hands relax.

Flynn shook his head. He forced himself to remain cool. "It was never about that. Whatever you think Tron, it wasn't about the three of us. Even if I could bring her to the new system, you wouldn't recognize her. Her programming is too different and too outdated. I'm sorry."

Flynn knew that he couldn't save every program. There was no time for that. Sometimes things had to happen for the greater good. He tried to explain this to Tron. But he was a program. He couldn't understand the decisions users had to make, the ones he had to make every day.

Tron slammed his fist into the wood of Flynn's desk. "Then what about me Flynn? Are you just going to take me apart and put me back together. How are you going to recognize me?"

Flynn smiled at this. "You'll be fine, man! Alan programmed you differently. You're flexible. You can adapt and change. In the new system you'll be even better than you are now." Tron thought about this. Some part of him had always enjoyed becoming stronger, more efficient. Tron worked hard, and the idea of the new grid suddenly took on new meaning for him.

"Come on man! The future is wide open." Flynn put his arm around Tron. Tron still had reservations, but how could he turn down such an offer. All programs lived for efficiency and productivity. How could he turn down a chance to become even better than he was now? And he certainly couldn't turn down the User he had always been so willing to serve.

But then he thought about Yori. She was just an innocent bystander. Nobody had given her a choice.

"I'll make sure she has a good home here," Flynn promised. "I know how much she means to you." Tron's anger was slowly subsiding. He believed in the users and he would trust Flynn to do what was right.

"Now let's get started," Flynn said with his trademark smile. And the two of them sat down and started planning their brand new world.

* * *

Sam awoke the next day and stretched. He felt nearly completely rested and ready to find the next key. He went out and found Tron sitting next to his door. Apparently programs got tired too. Tron was sitting on the wall, knees tucked in, asleep. So much for being a great guardian.

Sam lightly kicked him. "Greetings program. It's time to get to that next key."

Tron woke up quickly, surprised at his own lapse in attention.

"Oh, yeah. We should get to that. They said the cave was out in the area near the old Bostrum Colony. It will take us a while to get there so we should leave now."

They launched their lightcycles and headed to the Outlands.


	24. Motivations

MOTIVATIONS

After Quorra left the lab, Dillinger sat at his computer. He had just received a message from Zuse asking him about the status of his "other project."

_Have you found him yet? What's taking so long? _

Instead of responding to Zuse's question, Dillinger began to enter long lines of program into a command window. He was reworking an old program he had created as a joke in high school. At that point, Dad was already spending his time in jail for fraud and he had been left to his own devices. Which led to him programming viruses in his spare time. The other kids made fun of him, teased him about his father.

_"Oh too bad your daddy got caught in the act."_

_ "Loser. What a geek. Looks like he likes his computer more than girls." _

_ "What's wrong with you?" _

Like always, he had something to prove.

He was almost finished. This program was a trap, a virus that could pinpoint particular programs to attack and then modify them however Dillinger saw fit. In high school he had used this program to mess around with his teacher's computer. He'd also been able to change attendance records, improve his test scores and otherwise make his teacher's life a living nightmare. The other kids loved him for it.

Another line of text crossed the screen:

_I don't like being kept waiting. _

He remembered that as soon as other kids found out about his talent for messing around with computers, they all wanted to be his friend. But of course, not a real friend, just someone you keep around when your grades go sour or you'd rather be making out with a girl than be in class. Then you'd call Junior. He was the one who could make everything right. At first he took that for real friendship, but soon he realized that it wasn't enough. They weren't his real friends. He had no real friends.

He typed back:

_I'm almost finished. You want the best don't you? _

At first he had been reluctant to join Zuse in his plans for the grid, but after tonight and after working with Quorra he realized that he needed the power of the grid to continue his work. He had tried asking Sam for more access, but Sam was never there to listen. He had disappeared into the grid for what had felt like weeks leaving Dillinger to deal with the company and actual research. The board meetings had become stalemates between fighting groups of angry board members. Even Alan couldn't handle the bickering. It was too much.

He also saw how Sam's absence was affecting Quorra and hated it. After all that she had done for their research and work, the least he could do was stop by to say thank you every now and then. She didn't seem to be too upset on the outside, but Dillinger was starting to notice cracks, signs of worry. And he didn't know how to help her.

The girls he knew growing up never liked him, and now the only women he dated were after his money. As soon as they found out where he worked it was as though a light bulb started blazing and they thought they'd be able to take him for a ride. Girls in clubs, bars, he couldn't trust anyone. Being his father's son made that impossible.

But with Quorra he felt different. She was the weirdest person he had ever met, but she didn't take him for granted. She hardly knew about money, so that wasn't an issue, and she was a kind and good person. He wanted to be there for her. And he would be, now that Sam wasn't.

He also had to admit that the temptation was there to simply take the grid for himself. Zuse had shown him around, shown him the possibilities. Some part of him just wanted it. He could take his programming to the next level if he had complete access. He knew that he deserved it. More than Sam did. He worked harder and had struggled more.

When he started at Encom, everything was an uphill battle. Whereas the ownership of the company had simply fallen into Sam's lap, Dillinger had to work against his father's image. But it was _his_ father who had built the company from scratch, a fact that Dillinger had tried to make others aware of. Soon he realized it was just better to stay silent and let Sam do his thing.

But not anymore. This time it was his game.

He activated his program and let it go to work. After running surveillance for a few moments, a red marker appeared on the screen. Dillinger smiled and typed a new message:

_Cyphen has just left the safehouse. I have put the system in place to deal with him. I will be arriving soon. _

_END OF LINE _


	25. Capture and Retreat

CAPTURE AND RETREAT

As Tron and Sam left to go back to Flynn's office, Cyphen and K12 walked together, talking about their plans and what to do next. They had put some distance between themselves and the group of programs from Re:Volution, though they were all actually heading over to a bar called The Power Bar that had just opened recently. After the stressful conversation they had all just had, they were in unanimous agreement that they all needed a drinks. According to Aaron, the Power Bar had the cheapest dirtiest drinks in Tron City.

They had gone back to communicating through the avatar interface. The information they were sharing needed to remain private.

_I need you to go back to the real world and do some surveillance for me. There is a user named EDJ_0431 who I need you to keep an eye on._

K12 followed Cyphen's lead. He wanted to keep a low profile, so they just kept moving. She found herself looking around, and took note of what the city layout was like. She had never realized how beautiful Tron City was with its crystal spires and bright lights. Aaron and Lyta were having a heated conversation about their favorite fighters in the games. Orion seemed frustrated that he couldn't get a word in edgewise.

_He's not a threat as far as our sources say, but he's been nosing around and he has made contact with some dangerous programs_

Something slithered behind a corner. K12 turned but by the time she could have seen it, it was gone. Cyphen saw her and asked her if something was the matter. The city seemed to shift, something was wrong. Orion seemed to have heard it too, and also looked around.

"I heard something." Both of them were on edge, but they kept walking past stores, a random arcade where programs were mindlessly playing games. It was quiet on the street, except for Lyta's exclamations. Something didn't feel right. It was too empty, too quiet. But the feeling passed quickly, and Jayla continued. "I think I already have a good idea of who he might be." She went on to explain who Dillinger was and how he knew about the grid.

_Do you have any idea what he's planning?_

"No," she admitted. She had no idea why Dillinger might have turned against Sam. They were supposed to be partners. But the promise of power made people do crazy things, and she wouldn't put it past Dillinger to make a play for the grid.

A program on a lightcycle passed them turning around a corner. The sky had been slowly darkening, and a slight rain began to fall. As the rain bounced off of the light tracks on their suits, it took on a hazy glow. They walked in silence keeping a safe distance from the buildings.

Something moved behind them. A yellow program, a viral program, had just slithered out from an alley. It was crawling on all fours, mutating into something gelatinous. The program seemed to be sucking up all the energy in its path leaving a black trail in its wake. It still had human-like features. Jayla could see that this was no ordinary virus.

_Run! We can handle this. Get out of here!_

Cyphen held his bomb disc in a ready stance. He was already in battle mode thinking of his next move. Orion and the others raced to catch up with them. Clearly they were also ready for a battle. Lyta unsheathed her beam katana and ran to Cyphen's side, holding her blade at her shoulder. Aaron came barreling forward with what looked like a beam axe. Jayla was not about to be left behind.

"Like hell you will!" K12 swung around and faced the virus. "We're in this together. What else have you been training me for?"

She bounced up and down feeling the weight of her body over her knees. She would probably never get over the feeling of using the Avatar. It had become her second skin. Again, the thought of her being a blue furry animal came to mind, but she was fine with that. As long as she had legs, who cared what movie she was in?

The virus came stumbling towards them. For something as huge as it was, it moved quickly, efficiently. Cyphen was already attacking the virus. It came in close and hit him hard across the body, throwing him against the wall of one of the buildings lining the street. Orion threw himself in the path of the virus and began his own barrage of attacks. Lyta quickly raced to the back of the virus and swiped at him with her blade. She was a blur as she raced around the program trying to disorient it.

K12 raced towards Cyphen. "Are you ok?" she yelled. She threw her disc, extending the whip and gave the virus a hard hit to the head. It moved from side to side trying to shake off the blow.

_I'll be fine. Take out the head. That should kill it. _

She took the opportunity to move closer to Cyphen. The virus retreated a few steps away from the wall, and Jayla noticed that yellow liquid was smoking out of a deep gash on Cyphen's shoulder. K12 recoiled her whip and returned to her identity disc. For some reason the virus was backing away. Jayla realized that it must have completed its mission. It had already infected Cyphen. She raced after it, hoping that by killing it she could cure her friend.

She threw her identity disc and watched as it sliced through the virus' neck, splitting it into a thousand tiny cubes of data. She holstered her disc and watched as the program faded away. That was too easy, she thought.

From around the corner a hooded program dressed in white appeared. It walked slowly over to where the virus had faded. It had a cane and tapped it on the ground as it walked.

"You know that was really one of my best programs. It's such a pity you had to go and kill the poor wittle thing."

Cyphen stood up, nursing his sore shoulder. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Don't you recognize me? I'm an old friend." The program removed its hood to reveal a pale face, long hair with a disc symbol emblazoned on his forehead.

"I thought you were dead." Cyphen winced. The wound had grown deeper.

"In my line of work, it always pays to have a backup lying around somewhere." He walked up to Cyphen and looked at his shoulder. Cyphen quickly stepped back, avoiding Zuse's probing touch.

"That's a pretty bad wound. You wouldn't want it to get _infected _now would you," he laughed. It sounded cold and bitter. This wasn't the Zuse Cyphen had met before. There was anger behind his voice a deep seeded anger that could only come from being betrayed one too many times.

"Cyphen who is this guy?" K12 moved so she was standing next to him, ready to pull out her disc and fight if it became necessary.

"He's not a friend, if that's what you're wondering."

"Now now, that's not nice, is it?" Zuse said, pouting and pretending to nurse his sore ego. He walked up to Cyphen and grabbed Cyphen's sore shoulder twisting his hand into the cut. Cyphen held back a scream. "You should know something Cyphen. That virus, the one my friend programmed, it is now coursing through your handsome little body. If you don't get an antidote soon you'll be in quite a lot of trouble. "

Cyphen growled. He knew that Zuse was right. And he had a feeling where this was going.

"And you're the one with the antidote."

"Of course! We have the antidote for you, and we'll give it to you. As long as you play the game, of course." Cyphen knew that Zuse liked to play all the angles. But now he seemed more menacing.

"Who's we?" K12 said, interrupting.

Another hooded program came out of hiding. He moved slowly, taking time to move towards the waiting programs. He was wearing a grey coat with light tracks glowing from the inside.

"Don't be shy," Zuse said. "Go ahead! Introduce yourself to these lovely programs."

The program removed its hood. K12 nearly gave herself away when she gasped. The face was unmistakable, dark hair, blue eyes and somehow his glasses had followed him into the grid.

"My name is Edward Dillinger." His blue eyes glinted in a sudden flash of lightning. Jayla had never seen him this way before. He was feeling the power he had in this place and enjoying it. "I'm a user."

"Come with us. We don't want to hurt you. All we need is information and then we'll let you go." Jayla wasn't so sure about that. It could have been a lie so Junior could feel better about what he was about to do. Cyphen would never follow them willingly.

He signaled to two black guard soldiers who came up on their lightcycles at his command. They dismounted, their red circuits flashing in the rain. They both grabbed Cyphen, pinning his arms behind him. One of them took the communicator off of his wrist and smashed it against the ground. The other knocked him in the head and laughed as he slumped over. Another two programs appeared and approached K12, ready to strike her with their batons.

"Unfortunately," Zuse said as he walked away with Dillinger and the guards, "we really only need him. I'm sure you'll put up a good fight though."

K12 unsheathed her disc and began fighting. She tried to run over to Cyphen, to help him get free, but the guards kept getting in her way. She was powerless to watch as Zuse and his cronies had boarded a recognizer and dragged Cyphen with them.

She put her disc through one program's chest, derezzing it on contact. Then she whipped around and sliced off the head of the other program. There were two more, and her anger helped her make quick work of them. But she knew she was too late. She would have to find a way to rescue him before the virus got to him first. The recognizer had already taken off.

Then she remembered Dillinger. She had a thousand questions, but couldn't seem to figure out answers to any of them. But she also realized she had an advantage. Dillinger didn't know that she was in control of K12. He must have thought she was just another program, maybe another member of Re:volution. And she realized what she could do. She took off the touchstone and disappeared from the grid.


	26. New Friends in Low Places

**(A/N Sorry for such a long wait. Weekly updates will now continue. Thanks so much for being there, constant reader (to borrow a Stephen King phrase). The end is in sight! )**

NEW FRIENDS IN LOW PLACES

Cyphen woke up in a small room. He realized it must be a quarantine facility. He saw another program sitting in the cell across from him. They were separated by a pane of what looked like digital plexiglass.

"Oh hey. You're awake." The other program stood up and moved towards the glass. "Name's Rev, what's yours?" He had a slight east coast accent, though Cyphen wouldn't have identified it as such.

"Cyphen." He touched the wound on his shoulder and winced.

"Looks like a bad scratch you've got there! Wow, how'd you get it? Looks viral to me." Rev seemed excited. When a few moments passed and Cyphen didn't respond, he continued. "I see, you don't talk much. Well that's ok. I understand. Strong, silent type. Gotcha."

Cyphen was concerned about his wound, but in a strange way, he was also glad to have someone to talk to.

"It's ok. I don't mind." He tried turning his head to get a better look at the gash. It was about four inches long but very deep. It felt like there was some kind of acid slowly eating away at his outer code. He started feeling light-headed.

"Woah there," Rev said. "You sure you're ok?"

"It's just a scratch."

"That's no ordinary scratch. Were you fighting someone?"

"A virus attacked my partner and me. I was injured."

"Wow. I've been here so long I've forgotten what a virus looks like." He sighed and went to sit down again.

"How did you get in here?" Cyphen asked. He thought conversation might be a good distraction from the pain he was feeling.

"Oh me? I'm a spyware program. I'm proud to say, I got deep into some files and they couldn't get me out without destroying part of the system. So they just keep me in here. There's not a lot they can do with me."

"I see."

"Yeah I've been here a while. And other programs come and go. So most of the time I have someone else to talk to. So you're a system monitor, I take it then. Fighting viruses. Wow. Hey, didja fight in the war against CLU?"

"I did. Somewhat anyhow. I was actually Kevin Flynn's bodyguard, so I didn't get to fight much."

"You mean the creator? You knew the creator?" Rev was amazed. He had only heard stories about the creator, and most of them felt like fairy tales or legends.

"Yes."

"Is it true what they say about him then? That he's dead now?"

"Yes. He died to save all of us."

"No way!" Surprisingly, this seemed to cause Rev to sober up. He sat there in silence for a few minutes before continuing. "I never thought it would happen. First Tron and now this." Suddenly, Rev looked up.

"Well no good being down in the dumps. I guess he lived a long life. Really long in cycles. I have a feeling he'll be back. One way or another."

"Why do you say that?" Cyphen was curious. This program seemed extremely religious. Cyphen's beliefs about users were of course different.

_He remembered sitting with Flynn on the deck outside Flynn's safe house. It was a quiet night. and the two of them looked out over the outlands back towards Tron City. Flynn didn't turn to Cyphen. He sat there looking out, as though he were searching for something or someone. He said, "You know something Cyphen."_

_ "What is it, sir?" Cyphen knew that sometimes the creator just liked to share his thoughts with others. Cyphen was a good listener. _

_ "Users aren't perfect. You can see that can't you?"_

_ "What do you mean?" Cyphen was concerned. Flynn looked so sad. _

_ "I screwed up. I ruined this place. All because I thought it could be perfect. You know Cyphen, there is no such thing. Not even users are perfect." Cyphen thought about that. He used to think of users as the people pulling the strings, invisible hands that guided programs. After being with Flynn for so long he knew differently. _

_ "Sir..." he said and trailed off. Now wasn't the time for discussion. They went back to sitting there. Cyphen watched as the corners of his user's eyes crinkled up. There were almost tears there. Then Cyphen said, "Sir if its any consolation, you did what you thought was right. Sometimes you just have to believe that." Flynn turned to Cyphen, surprised at the sincerity of his words. Surprised that a program knew how to comfort him at a time like this. _

_ "You know what, you're right. Thank you." And they went back to looking at the city, silently watching as the rain began to fall. _

Cyphen didn't think Rev would understand his view of users. Most programs wouldn't. Rev seemed like the kind of religious fanatic that was common on the grid these days. Cyphen merely said,

"There's a lot more to users than we could ever know about."

"Yeah."

"But why do you think he's coming back?" Cyphen moved a bit closer to the plexiglass wall. He found he could hear Rev better. He also wanted to see the expression on his face.

"I just know it. It's like I feel him out there somewhere. Maybe he even left something behind. I've heard stories going around about The Keys of Flynn. He had to have left something. Otherwise we wouldn't be here, right?"

Cyphen wasn't so sure about Rev's logic. Even without Flynn, the Grid would still exist. Without users, the grid would go on.

"What do you know about the keys?" Cyphen asked.

"Just bits and pieces. They're supposed to be artifacts that open up the universe, things unlike anything any program's ever seen before. Magic spheres that programs can use to enhance their powers. Stuff like that. Why what do you know about them." Cyphen strangely found himself wanting to open up to this program. He had just met him, but what harm would there be in telling him? He was stuck here indefinitely. Even if he escaped, nobody would believe him anyhow.

"My group and I have seen the keys first hand. We know that Flynn left them behind for his son Sam. Other than that, your guess is probably as good as mine as to what they actually do. Whatever they are, they're powerful."

Rev almost jumped out of his seat. He moved close to the glass. Clearly he was a religious fanatic. "Is he here now, looking for them?"

"He's here. He and Tron went to the outlands to look for the next key in the old grid. Nobody knows how many there are, but we plan to find them all." Cyphen hardly ever spoke this much. But somehow he liked this program, enough to have told him more than what he normally would have.

Two black guards entered the holding area and approached their cells. One removed Rev and the other grabbed Cyphen and forced him out into the hall. They put a rectangular cuff on his hands and pinned them behind his back. Cyphen winced as the program grabbed him by the shoulder and pushed him forward, nearly knocking him off balance.

"Well I guess this is it," Rev said. "I still can't believe you knew the Creator. He must have been a wonderful guy."

"Yeah," Cyphen said sadly. "Yes he was." The wound of losing his user was still fresh after all these cycles. Cyphen decided he had been around users too long and that it had made him too emotional as a program. It was something Flynn had warned against, but also, in his own way, encouraged. The guard pushed him again.

"Dillinger and Zuse want to see you. Both."

Rev arched back and slammed his head into the guard standing behind him. His head must have been pretty hard because the guard crumpled and fell to the floor. "Run," he yelled to Cyphen. Cyphen took advantage of the guard's distraction and turned on him, smashing him across the face with his cuffed hands.

Rev had somehow managed to slip his cuffs and undid Cyphen's. He rubbed his sore wrists and smiled a goofy smile. He was happy to be out and free again, ready for mayhem. "We have to get out of here. Give me a few seconds and I should be able to access an escape route. His eyes flashed yellow and he drew up a plan of the base. The three-dimensional model floated in the air between the two programs. Rev's eyes flashed again and a red dot appeared in the center of the simulation. "That's where we are," Rev explained. Then a series of dashes pointed them towards an exit. "Right here. If we take this hallway and access the maintenance shaft, we'll be out of here in no time."

Rev raced ahead. Cyphen followed behind. He tried as best as he could too keep up, but he found himself lagging behind. He began to free run, jumping over objects in his path gaining speed and momentum. When they arrived at the shaft, Rev stopped and looked up. 'Can you get me up there?" he asked Cyphen.

"I think so," Cyphen said.

"Then give me a boost!" Cyphen linked his fingers and placed them above his knee. Rev stepped up and Cyphen boosted him up into the open shaft. Rev put out his arm and Cyphen sprung up to meet him. They crawled through the shaft and quickly arrived at the street.

Rev stood and dusted himself off. "Well that was fun!" he said with a grin.

Cyphen checked around the street. Strangely, and lucky for the two of them, there were no guards. Cyphen started to get ready to leave. He pushed a button on his communicator and sent a message to K12 and the others. He was alive and they needed to get to Tron quickly.

Before he could say anything, Rev was at his side.

"I was wondering. if it's not too much trouble, could I go with you? Anyone who knew the creator is ok in my book. And I'm fast! And you can see I'm good at getting out of tough situations." He was speaking so fast Cyphen could barely understand him. But what he did understand was that Rev was a good guy. He had saved him and Cyphen felt like he owed him one.

"I also know a good doctor. One who can get rid of that virus for you." Cyphen looked at his shoulder. The rush of escape had made it so he hadn't noticed.

"Ok. Let's go. I don't think I have a lot of time." Rev took Cyphen through the underworld of the grid, to a small building with a front door and staircase. This was odd in a place like the grid where most buildings were high rises with massive elevators. This looked more like a brownstone, a walk up.

Rev knocked three times on the door and a buzzer went off letting the two programs in. "Doctor Tenma are you here?" A shuffling sound to the left of them startled Cyphen. It was a grid rat. Another shuffling sound came from what appeared to be a kitchen. Cyphen had never seen anything like this place.

"Rev is that you?" a voice yelled from the other room.

"It's me old man. I gotta favor to ask you." A program staggered out of the kitchen with a massive pile of books and folders.

"Hey gimme a hand with this." Rev grabbed nearly half the books and quickly put them on the floor in the living room. Tenma walked out and saw Cyphen. He was immediately impressed.

"A system monitor! Wow. You sure we can trust this guy, Rev?"

"You can trust him. We just escaped the clutches of the mighty Edward Dillinger. He told me he knows the creator, or knew the creator" The old program seemed incredulous. " The creator eh? Well if he's a friend of yours he's a friend of mine. Now let's get to work." The old program took a look at the infected spot.

"Ooh that's a pretty nasty virus you got there. But don't worry. I have just the trick." He went to the refrigerator in the kitchen and pulled out a small vial of black liquid. He poured it into the crack where the virus had eaten away at Cyphen's suit.

"There! That should do it."

"Thank you," Cyphen said.

"No problem. Any friend of Rev is a friend of mine." He turned to Rev and said, "Now get out of here before I split you a new one." Rev laughed and was half way down the stairs before Cyphen could catch up with him.

"You didn't have to do that." Cyphen looked down at his shoulder and it was as good as new.

"Yeah well, what are friends for right?" Cyphen looked around making sure they weren't followed. "Now where to?"

"We're going to the Outlands to find Sam. He needs to know that his friend Edward betrayed him."

Rev pulled out his light cycle baton.

"Alright then! Let's get to it." And they raced into the night sky. Heading off to the edge of the grid and the old system where a key would be waiting for them.


	27. The Silver Door

THE SILVER DOOR

Sam followed the trail of Tron's lightcycle as it traced a path through the city on a highway leading to the edge of the grid. Sam trailed behind and kept silent. His father had told him stories about Tron and his true love Yori. He knew that if what Pastor had said was true, Tron would have a lot on his mind right now.

Also, Sam didn't feel like talking either. His mind was elsewhere. He was still taking in what had happened. The whole time he had been in the grid, things he couldn't quite understand were happening all around him. It started with ISO-tec and the system being too slow to grow new ISO cells in. He returned to his father's disc only to find that his father's memories of him were somehow corrupted. Then he met Tron and was dragged along while he reunited with his old friends. Then there were the keys that seemed to be his father's memories of him? It made a crazy kind of sense, but he was still grasping for threads. It felt like he was stuck in a sci-fi movie trying to understand someone else's dream within a dream.

Then there were the keys themselves. What were they the keys to? What massive superpower were they supposed to let out into the grid. Everyone seemed to have theories, but nothing solid.

He thought about Dillinger. The little punk had already started getting on his last nerve in the real world, and now he was messing around in the grid. He knew that he'd have to get back to the real world eventually. If not to rip into Dillinger, but to see Quorra.

He didn't want to think about the memories. It felt like he was intruding in an empty house.

Sam almost didn't see Tron pull to a stop at the edge of a cliff. He made a hard turn and the bike slid to a stop at the cliff edge.

"Jesus Tron! A little warning next time?" Sam was lucky he had such good reflexes, otherwise he would have been a lightcycle pancake. They had arrived at the end of the grid. The Outlands stood there before them. Crags and peaks jutted out at all angles from the earth ahead of them. Lightning flashed across the grey-green sky. Sam wondered if he could somehow find a switch that turned off the rain. It was starting to get repetitive.

He remembered that Quorra said that lightcycles couldn't run off-grid, and he watched as Tron dismounted. He stepped to the edge of the cliff and looked over.

"Sam this is where we get off and start walking." He dropped to the ground and started looking for footholds.

"Hold on. You have got to be kidding me."

"Why would I be kidding you?" Tron seemed genuinely confused by the expression.

"I mean that doesn't look like walking." In fact, to Sam it looked more like climbing and possibly falling to their doom.

"Even if we had a light runner, it wouldn't fit through that." Sam looked down and saw the narrow path that they would have to walk. Tron was right. And it looked like at least a day's walk into the Outlands before they would be at the site of the old system. They started down into the abyss.

At first Tron stayed silent. He wasn't sure what to say, what he could say, that would help Sam understand. He could tell that when Sam looked at him, he saw his old hero broken down and beaten. Tron could understand that. He used to feel like a hero. Strong and brave fighting for what was right. Champion of the users. Now, he just felt empty and raw like skin scratched bare. But how could he tell Sam that?

Sam broke the silence by asking Tron how he knew where they were going.

"I know because it's calling me. The old system. It used to be my home, so a part of me still belongs there. It's still there." Tron fell silent again. The rocks under their feet had started to become more solid. Then they came to a huge gap, with no way to cross.

"Looks like a dead end," Sam said. Tron merely stepped back to get some distance, ran and leapt across the space.

"Made it," he said. Sam wasn't so sure he'd be able to. He'd done his share of freerunning in the past, but this seemed a bit beyond him. Tron waved to him from across the gap. "You can do it Sam, just don't think about it."

Sam moved back and felt himself moving in slow motion, he raced towards the edge and threw himself across. He reached out and grabbed the edge of the cliff on the other side. Tron reached out a hand and pulled him up. Smiling, he patted Sam on the back, "You users sure surprise me," he said. "I thought I might have had to scrape you off the canyon floor."

"Nah not me." Sam laughed partly from the exhilaration of the flight he had just taken and the fact that Tron seemed to have gained a sense of humor. They began to descend once more, taking time to find footholds and test the shaky ground before moving on. The outlands were a dangerous place for programs and Tron wanted to make sure that Sam stayed safe.

Sam felt as though they were descending into the center of the earth. The caves were getting darker and it was more dangerous with every step. But ahead of them, he could see the cave, the one from the data orb. The one that contained the pathway to the old system. Tron stopped suddenly again ahead of him. He seemed to freeze.

"Come on old friend," Sam said as he moved up closer to Tron. "We have to do this. Dad would have wanted you to."

Tron turned on Sam, "How can you be so sure, Sam?"

"He cared about you! And he wouldn't want you to get stuck in the past. Keep moving. Whatever's down there, you can handle it." Sam believed in Tron even if he didn't believe in himself. He felt like a kid again, believing in heroes, but it was better than the alternative. If they didn't get down there, his father's legacy would be meaningless. Whatever the keys were, if they didn't find them, then there was no point. Somewhere along the line Sam had decided to see this through. So he stepped in front of Tron and moved down the steep slope ahead of them, moving towards the silver door that could be seen even from the mouth of the cave.

Tron was jarred awake. His choices flashed before him. He could either go ahead with Sam and face the world he had abandoned, or stay there and never know, possibly letting Sam, and Yori die.

Now that he was a free program he felt something he hadn't known before. He was afraid. Before, when he had been just Tron, there was no fear, only blinding obedience. No choice, only his user's wishes. It was so much easier just to follow the path that was already programmed for him. But now, after being broken down by CLU and rebuild by the sea of simulation, he had free will. And he was frozen.

_You have to make a choice, man. _ It was Flynn's voice in his mind. Coming through from some shattered place in his memory. _You have to choose. better to make a choice and be wrong than to make no choice at all!_

Tron wanted to yell at Flynn. To say that that wasn't right, but he knew he had to, and quickly. Sam was moving further and further away from him, moving towards the silver door. _Alright! That's it man! _

Tron raced ahead moving to catch up with Sam. He chose to protect his friend and the son of his friend. And whatever happened on the path ahead, he would see it through to the end. The two of them arrived at the silver door and saw the crack that the programs had gone through earlier.

"You ready?" Sam asked. There was no other answer.

"Yes. Yes I am."


	28. Real world interlude

REAL WORLD INTERLUDE:

_Jayla was at ENCOM. She had arrived at the building quickly after she'd arrived back in the real world. While being in a wheelchair made it tricky to sneak around after hours, the security guards knew her personally and also knew that she liked to work late. So nobody questioned her being there. _

_But being in Dillinger's office was another thing all together. She went to his computer terminal and tried to access his files. _

_Password:_

_She knew that Dillinger would have his files protected and hadn't thought to bring her codebreaker with her. She'd have to settle for physical files then. And surprisingly, there on the desk was an open moleskine notebook. She flipped through the pages. How like him to keep an actual notebook instead of just computer files. _

_She read through his entries. Ones about his plans for the grid, and one about Quorra. She realized that Quorra could be in danger. Maybe she was even with him somewhere right now. Dillinger had outlines for a plan to use her in some way. She decided to head over to Sam's and see if she was there. She called Harry for a ride. _

_Harry came to the office full of questions. And Jayla tried to explain as best as she could what had happened to Sam, Cyphen, what Dillinger had planed for the grid. It took a while for Harry to make sense of it, but they both agreed on one thing, they needed to find Q, and quickly. _

_But when they arrived at Sam's she was nowhere to be found. _

_ "I have to get back to the grid!" Jayla told Harry. Harry frowned. He knew Jayla had become obsessed with the system, but he really didn't understand why she kept going back. She hadn't been eating well, her skin looked too pale and she needed rest. _

_ "Can't it wait? It looks like you need to take some time off." He helped her into the car and put her chair in the back. _

_ "Harry you don't understand. Sam is in trouble." _

_ "Fine," Harry admitted. "I don't understand. But if it has something to do with what happened in that match, then I"m not letting you go by yourself." Jayla smiled at him. Good old Harry. Her knight in shining armor. "And why don't we call Ryden too," he suggested. "I'm sure Aeos would love to get in on the action." They returned to the lab and gave Ryden a call. _

* * *

_The three of them used their touchstones to enter the grid. K12 located the Re:volution members and they told her that Cyphen was ok, he had escaped and was going to warn Tron about his friend's plans _

_ "It gets worse," Jayla explained what she had learned about Dillinger's motivations and what he did to Quorra. _

_It looked like they were all going to need to get to Sam. And quickly. _


	29. Hades

HADES

Tron and Sam entered the old system through the crack in the silver door. As Sam passed through, he noticed silver particles shimmering in the green glow of the grid. As he went through it, his suit changed from black with blue circuits to grey with red lines. Tron had also changed. He was wearing something that looked like a hockey helmet and what Sam couldn't help thinking looked like a leotard with colored lines painted on it.

"Come on," Tron motioned for them to move on. He seemed anxious. There was a sickly yellow smoke that rolled in and out of the streets like a fog. It was glowing. The path continued downward towards some hidden place that neither of them could see yet. The walls formed a spiral down to the center of the crater. Below them was the old system. Tron stopped and closed his eyes. He was listening for something.

"Not yet," he said to himself. "I can't quite make it out." Sam thought he might be listening for the sound of old programs. Ghosts from the old system. They both ran down the sloping sides of the cave which spiraled downward around a central open core. They reached points at which they needed to climb or freerun across walls. Sam was able to keep up, and Tron eventually stopped worrying about him. Neither of them spoke until they reached the bottom.

"My user!" They were in the heart of the old city. Tron looked around and saw the dead or dying shells of hundreds of programs. Corpses had piled up all through the streets. Firewalls had collapsed leaving rubble and shards of broken code behind. There was hardly anything left but rubble and yellow smoke. Tron remembered what this place had been. He remembered the shining beams of the I/O towers, the flowing rivers of energy and the gridlines of the gaming grid. But now it was gone.

"Why haven't these programs derezzed?" Sam's question brought Tron back into the present. They were walking around in a graveyard, but somehow the programs remained trapped in the grid.

"They're still here because of me." A hooded program sat with its back against a crumbled firewall. It was hunched over, knees pulled into its voice was female, worn with the passing of many cycles. Tron recognized it almost immediately.

"Yori." She pulled down her hood.

"Tron. It's been a long time. How many cycles has it been. Ten, fifteen, maybe even a hundred?" Tron's breath caught in his throat. You never notice your breathing until it stops, he thought. He could sense the cold betrayal in her voice, the pain of being left behind.

"I always meant to come back for you," he said trying to comfort her, trying to make her see that she shouldn't be so mad at him. But even as he said it he knew it wasn't exactly true. Even if he had tried to return, Flynn never would have let Yori come back to the new system.

"Liar." He knew it was true. She tried to bring herself to a standing position, but her legs wouldn't hold her. She collapsed to the ground. Tron rushed over to hold her.

"Stay away from me!" She yelled. Tron stopped. Then he stepped away. "It's too late. You abandoned me. You abandoned all of us. It's too late now!" She had tears in her eyes, and the anger threatened to overwhelm her circuits and drain away any energy she had left. She sat back down against the wall. She curled her head down towards her knees. Tron realized she was sobbing.

Sam took a step out from where he was standing. "Yori, that's your name isn't it." She looked up to see the program talking to her.

"Yes. Who are you?"

"My name is Sam Flynn. You knew my father, Kevin. He told me about you." Anger flashed through her eyes and then disappeared. Sam realized that it was his father she was most angry at. He was the one who had truly abandoned her in the old system. "I'm sure he would have saved you if he could have," Sam suggested, though he wasn't sure if it was true or not. She put her head down again, trying to muster up the energy to talk to Sam. Or maybe just to be angry at him.

Instead she took something out of an invisible pocket and reached out her hand. It shook with the effort. "This is for you then." It was one of the keys. Sam took it and felt the flash of memory come to him.

_He felt the thrill of riding a lightcycle only this time it was a retro model. The old gridlines , the old game grid flashing beneath his wheels. He felt the adrenaline rush as he took the other rider into the maze. A series of quick flashes and he was out again. _

_Riding to the I/O tower on the solar sailer. Meeting Yori for the first time. How she clung to him in the blue glow of the grid. How she had kissed him._

_He remembered her. And the feeling of flight, how his user powers made it possible for them to jump the tracks. _

_This was what he wanted to tell Sam about. Users had great power in the grid. A user can do so much. Create worlds. _

_The memory flashes ahead and Flynn is sitting on his son's bed. It is the night of his disappearance. Sam was playing with his action figures, sitting comfortably under covers that he would never see again. The warmth of the room he would never see again. But he didn't know that then. Right there sitting with his son, all he felt was promise and happiness. _

_And then one day, I got in! Sam. It was amazing. And one day you'll see it too. _

The memory was gone and Sam felt a poignant loss. The other memories hadn't hit him quite as hard. Seeing himself through his father's eyes, through his father's memory, reopened the wound. He was gone. Sam would never see him again.

He turned back to Yori. "Thank you," he said.

"He would have wanted you to have it." A tear rolled down her cheek. "You know I miss him. I miss him most of all. He was good to this place." She turned away from Tron.

"You still haven't told us why these programs haven't derezzed." She looked back at him.

"It was my invention. Dumont and I created a power shield to protect programs from the virus. The Metalurgica virus."

_There was a virus, the size of a bear, rampaging through the streets, throwing programs left and right. It flashed yellow. It was slobbering and had claws that tore through the delicate walls of the grid. _

_The monk programs prayed to the users to save them. But they were never answered. _

"Once it was installed, the program was immune from the effects of the virus. What we didn't learn, until it was too late, was that it takes tremendous amounts of energy to keep the shields active. The programs here aren't dead, but they're not able to keep up their other functions.

_Programs collapsed in the streets, their eyes glazed over, only able to complete the most primitive of functions. Some shivered with the effort it took to stay alive. A mother cried over her dead child. _

_ "_They're only able to survive and that's the end of it." She doubled over with a heavy cough. Tron came close but didn't touch her. He could tell she was sick. "Yori. Do you have it. The virus? Are you sick?"

She didn't have to answer. She coughed and looked up with a weak smile. "Tron, everyone here is sick. Everyone except Dumont." At the mention of the old program's name Tron tilted his head.

"He's still alive? I thought he had been derezzed."

"He can never leave. This system is too much a part of him. He's still at the old I/O tower." A flash of red passed quickly through Yori's eyes. Tron blinked thinking he had just imagined it.

"Tron, now that you're here you can help me. I just need a little bit of your energy. Then I can get out of here. You could take me with you." Her voice was strained but Sam could hear the desperation there. He was standing behind Tron. He realized this had to be a moment between the two of them.

"Yori, I..."

"Just a little bit. Enough to let me break free. Once I can turn off the shield I'll be free. I can return with you."

Tron hesitated, but he reached out his hand for hers. She took it and the energy began to flow from Tron's body into hers. She arched back, feeling the power surge through her circuits.

"Aaaah, it feels so good. l need more. Just a little bit more." As the energy left him, Tron began feeling weak. Yori was taking too much. But she couldn't stop. And she wouldn't let go of his hand. He tried pulling away, but she tightened her grip.

"Yori, stop! That's enough." He slouched down. He couldn't keep up with her need. She needed too much. It was draining his entire being. And yet, somehow he felt he deserved it, deserved to die so she could be saved. He had a choice to make. He would die for her.

Tron heard the sound of a disc flashing through the air. It slashed through the air. Tron tried to block the disc, but he couldn't move his hand. And then it was too late. Yori fell forward. Her hand fell away and she collapsed into Tron's waiting arms. It had all happened in a heartbeat. Sam stood and picked up his disc. "I had to do it. I'm sorry." Her body flashed red and she was gone without a word.

"Sam!" Tron turned on his friend and took out his own disc. His hands shook with anger. "Why? Why did you do it? She didn't deserve to die."

"And you did? I need you, Tron. It was a pretty simple choice." He put his disc back in it's slot on the back of his uniform. It felt strange. Not the way it slid in perfectly in the grid.

"Sam, it's not like that." Tron turned away. He couldn't look Sam in the eye. He had lost the chance to make his decision. Of course he shouldn't have died. Yori wasn't in the right, but it wasn't enough. He felt guilty for what he hadn't been able to do.

"It's ok Tron," Sam put his hand on the program's shoulder. "It was either you or her. You have to survive. Now let's get to that I/0 tower. I think I've figured out what's been sapping the energy from the new system." Tron lowered his head. As Sam ran away, Tron paused. Then he followed. He had nowhere else to go.


	30. This is not a test

THIS IS NOT A TEST

Cyphen pushed his lightcycle to its maximum speed. Two recognizers passed overhead. Their engines rumbled through the perpetual night. Cyphen hoped they had been too far away to recognize them. They moved through areas of the highway that had been destroyed in the reintegration.

Rev pulled up next to him swerving in with a grin. "It feels so good to be free," Rev yelled. "I never thought I'd breathe free air again." He sounded so happy, and Cyphen couldn't help but smile. Even though he had just met the energetic program, he was starting to like him. Maybe he could even join their group. He would have to be vetted, of course, but Cyphen liked the possibility.

They arrived at the outcropping of rock where Tron and Sam had made their descent. Their lightrunners were still there. Cyphen assumed they had been there for some time. Grid lightning flashed in the distance. The edge of the outlands was outlined in greenish-grey light and Cyphen felt an odd sense of dismay. He hadn't actually expected to find the two of them here on the cliff, but it would have made things easier.

There was a steep hill leading down to the cliff edge. Rev ran down the hill and looked over the edge of the cliff and down to a small ledge below. He jumped down and Cyphen watched him for a moment before going back to the light runners. Rev hid behind a rock and discreetly pushed a button on the side of his arm. A red button began to silently flash. Cyphen was too busy examining the lightrunners to notice. He didn't notice when the recognizers he had seen before turned around and rumbled across the sky. He was too focused on his mission.

"They're still here. They must have gone down to the center of the crater by now." Cyphen jumped down to where Rev was standing only to watch him jump back up.

Rev walked away from the edge of the cliff and up to the top of the hill. As the two recognizers descended, he said, "I'm sorry Cyphen. I really was starting to like you" The main portion descended from the recognizer and four black guard soldiers came out. There was also a grey program in a long hooded cloak and another white program. Zuse. Rev joined them on the platform of the recognizer on the hill. The higher ground.

"I see you've met my friend, Rev," he said and smiled. Cyphen stared at Rev. He realized that he had been duped. It was too late. Of course a spyware program would be the best choice to infiltrate and betray. And clearly Rev was good at his job. "Why try and force the information out of a program when you can simply ask for it. And he played his part rather well didn't he? Sent us right to you."

Rev walked over to where Zuse was standing.

"Why are you doing this?" Cyphen yelled. "What's in it for you?"

"Everything my boy. It's this world I want. And of course Sam has all the keys. He's the one we're depending on now. Aren't we, Junior?"

The program in the hood stepped out from the recognizer. He pulled back his hood to reveal a dark face hidden behind thick rimmed glasses. He wore a dark suit with blue tronlines. It was the user he had met earlier. "Cyphen. You've been giving us a lot of trouble these days." He stepped down and pulled out a device from his side. "I created this so we could end this quickly." Cyphen readied himself for what was about to come next. Probably an attack, maybe a virus like before. You could never be sure when it came to a user. He hoped Sam and Tron would find what they were looking for and get back so he could have a user on his side of the board. Dillinger tapped the controller pad and three more guards appeared. They approached Cyphen and he stood his ground, pulled out his disc and set it to bomb mode.

A disc came down from the air to Cyphen's left. It slashed through the black guard programs and returned to the hand of the program who threw it. "Aren't you glad to see us," a voice yelled down from the top of a high cliff. It was Orion. K12 and the others followed quickly behind. Cyphen looked up. He was glad to see familiar faces. They raced down to join him in his battle against the onslaught of programs. Cyphen decided to risk a charge on the hill.

"I wouldn't be so quick to do that if I were you. You can fight each other, but I wouldn't come up here," Zuse said andlaughed. Cyphen looked and a female program came out from behind Dillinger. Cyphen realized who it was. But why was she here? "You wouldn't want to hurt her, now would you?"

"Quorra, are you alright? Did he hurt you?"

"I'm ok," Quorra yelled. "I came here with him. We need to see Sam!"

"Why are you with him? What's going on?" Cyphen looked up at Quorra. Why was she with Dillinger? Didn't she understand that he was the one behind all of the bombings, all of the attacks? But then he remembered. She didn't know anything. She had been in the user world the whole time Sam had been here following Tron and fighting Dillinger's men. She had no idea that he was the one doing all of this.

"I'm here because he asked me to come. We need to see Sam. Edward told me everything." Cyphen wondered what Dillinger had said to convince Quorra to come.

"He's lying!" Cyphen didn't have a chance to say anything more. Dillinger was still creating black guard programs. They rezzed into existence by his side and raced down the hill. K12 and the others had joined him but still they were outnumbered.

"Don't worry your pretty little head," Aaron said to Cyphen with a wild look in his eye and a big lopsided grin on his face. "We may be outnumbered, but what are a few black guard programs compared to us? I say chicken fodder. This is child's play." And he derezzed two black programs, beheading them with his axe.

"This is fun!" Lyta said as she raced around smacking programs in the head and distracting them. If the black guards were going to underestimate her, they had another thing coming. "You are so totally derezzed!" she yelled as she took out two black guards with one strike.

Aeos also seemed to be having fun. He was using his disc to repel programs and then derezzing them with a quick strike. Back in the real world, Ryden was smiling. "We got this!" he yelled. "Jayla. Tell Cyphen he can get to the front of the pack." K12 wasn't close enough to speak to him. She was in the middle of fighting two elite guards. She disarmed them with her light whip and then took them out with her disc. All around her was the sound of programs derezzing like broken glass.

Cyphen wasn't as excited. He ran up next to Orion and got back to back with him. "We have to disable that device. Otherwise, there's no point to all of this. They'll just keep coming." Orion agreed.

"But how are we going to do it?" Cyphen thought of the only thing he could.

"I'll distract him while you take him out. Then I'll take care of the device."

"But if you die, there's nobody to back you up!" Orion was right. Kevin Flynn wasn't around to rerezz him. This would be the final time he could die.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take." It was in his programming. He had to be the one to save his friends. He had died hundreds of times as he protected the system from the Abraxas virus. Even if this would be the last time, he couldn't avoid who he was. The only thing that mattered was getting Sam and Tron out of the old system alive. The only thing that mattered were the keys. Flynn would have wanted it that way.

"Hurry then," Orion said. "We need you here. You're our fearless leader after all." Cyphen smiled behind his had trained these programs well. He would be sad to leave his friends, but at least he could be confident that Tron and Sam were in good hands.

"What the hell are you doing?" K12 raced up the hill after Cyphen, but somehow Orion and Aeos both caught up with her and pulled her back.

"It wasn't his choice." Orion pulled her down as a black guard's disc flashed overhead. "It's not his fault he was programmed that way. I think it was stupid, but he's a monitor. He's got to protect the system at all costs."

"But I'm not a program. I'm a user. I can help him! I can save him!" Even as she said that, Cyphen had moved too far ahead and she could only see wave after wave of black guards as he tried to push his way forward. Orion stopped for a moment and stared at K12. Clearly the thing standing in front of him was a program.

"You can't be a user."

"It's a long story," Aeos said.

"You too?"

"Yeah."

"Well hey, that's good news. You guys can get up there and help Cyphen." Aeos looked at K12 and they decided to make a break for it.

As they ran, Ryden said, "I have a better idea." Aeos disappeared from the grid leaving K12 running up to help Cyphen. She had a good idea of what he was going to do.

The battle was starting to seem hopeless. The more the team fought, the more guards Dillinger would send their way. He seemed calm and collected, standing there, regenerating programs. Jayla wanted to punch him in the face. Cyphen was pushing his way through a group of soldiers. K12 tried to break into the group, but was pushed against one of the pillars of the recognizer. Finally, Cyphen got close enough to Dillinger. Of course, Dillinger saw him and sent out another wave. But it left him open to K12's attack.

"Did you think I was so stupid," Dillinger said coldly. Two guards appeared behind him and grabbed the two programs.

"Damn," Jayla should have known better. The guy always had a back up plan.

She watched the battle below. The group was outnumbered and overwhelmed. Aaron had a gash down the side of his arm, but it didn't seem to affect the power of his fighting. He was still swinging his axe, but as soon as he had beheaded or bludgeoned a program and derezzed it, two more seemed to spring up in its place. Orion and Lyta had been backed towards the edge of the cliff and had nowhere else to go. They were going to have to stand their ground. It seemed hopeless until three new programs rezzed into the grid next to Orion and Lyta.

Jayla smiled. They might have a chance yet.

* * *

Ryden took off the touchstone. Harry, who had left the grid as well, was sitting next to him monitoring the system. Moving quickly to his computer terminal, Ryden yelled at Harry. "We have to move quickly. Otherwise they'll all die. The time, it's different here." Harry didn't need to be told twice. Jayla was in there. He stumbled over to the other terminal, nearly tripping over a bundle of wires. "We have to create a series of replicating programs that will fight on our side in the system." He began typing furiously on his keypad. "Do you think this will work?" Harry looked over his shoulder.

"Should do the trick. There's only one way to find out. Get back in the system. I can take care of it from here." He cracked his knuckles and got back to work. It was time for some real user power.

* * *

Aeos rezzed back into the system and quickly ducked as a disc flew over his head. He saw the green programs, and Ryden smiled. They were good, real good. He gave Harry a thumbs up, and went to continue fighting. Though they didn't have the upper hand yet, at least now they could even the score. There were about thirty green programs fighting the black guards. But Dillinger kept making more. And so did Harry. And they were decent fighters, too.

He took out his disc and began fighting. Being a fighter in the grid didn't feel like a video game this time. This time it felt real, more urgent. There was more at stake here. But he couldn't think about that now. Ryden focused in on the battle at hand. Adrenaline surged. And he was a warrior.

He moved Aeos through a series of black guard programs, derezzing them. And he wondered, even though he didn't want to, what would happen to him if Aeos was killed? Would he die too? Better to never find out.

He wondered where Sam was too. Off on some wild adventure. He hoped that wherever he was, he was ok. He doubted it, but still, a program can hope. He looked up and saw Cyphen and K12 on the hill. If Sam couldn't save them, then someone else would have to.


	31. Maze

**A/N long time no update. And long chapter is LONG (in fact I'm pretty sure this is the longest chapter so far!) :D Enjoy and thanks to everyone who has continued with me all these chapters. **

MAZE of MONSTERS

The old system suddenly went dark. Then the darkness reverberated with a voice. _T_he voice was old, broken down and full of hate.

_ I know you're here Tron. I can smell you. _

"What the hell was that?" Sam could barely make out Tron's circuitry in the darkness.

"It's Dumont." Tron looked around. The only source of light was a red i/o tower beam coming from nearby. "We have to get to that tower."

Sam nodded. They started climbing towards the tower.

_I see you brought a friend with you. And I recognize his stench as well. he's a user. What luck! What luck! Now the fun can really begin. _

_ "_Dumont!" Tron yelled. Sam put his hand on Tron's shoulder and shook his head. Now wasn't the time to have a long conversation. Tron seemed to like having long conversations. Sam had been on the receiving end of quite a few recently. And they couldn't let Dumont know where they were. Sam's touch told Tron as much. He lowered his head and continued moving.

There wasn't much distance between their position and the I/O tower, but the damage caused to the system had created barriers. They climbed over broken pieces of firewall, old recognizers, and all around them were programs frozen in energy stasis.

Sam felt sorry for Tron. But not sorry about what he'd done. He'd meant it when he said he had no other choice.

They reached a pool of energy and Tron stopped to take a drink. "What the hell are you doing?" Sam yelled. "We have to keep moving." Tron looked up with pure hatred in his eyes.

"You go on then!" He took another drink. Sam went and sat down beside him. He ran his fingers through the liquid energy. They tingled.

"I can't leave you here." Sam's voice was quieter. He leaned forward and took a cupful of energy in his hand. As he drank, he felt suddenly more alive. "I still need your help. Remember, it's what you said you wanted to do, what you had to do."

"Sam," Tron paused. "Sam this isn't easy for me. You just killed the only program on the grid that meant anything to me. But I know why you did it. I think I do. I just need time." He felt loss, he felt sad. He needed time to grieve.

"We don't have time."

"No, _you _don't have time. Go ahead. I'll follow you when I'm ready." Tron wasn't going anywhere, Sam realized. So he took off.

"Meet me at the I/0 tower then!" He climbed over an embankment and was gone from view.

_ Too bad, Tron. I'm going to have to remove the user from the system. Users don't belong here. Even you know that. _

Tron was faced with another choice. Dumont _was_ wrong. If Sam was right, Dumont was stealing power from the new system to keep himself alive. And yet, Tron still felt a seething hatred for Sam. Sam had killed Yori. But he had a reason too, and he saved his life. He had to forgive him for that. She would have killed him.

And now he had to return the favor. Sam wouldn't be able to defeat Dumont on his own. He didn't have the power. Tron looked up at the I/0 tower beam. And he made his decision.

"You'll never defeat the two of us together. I'm sorry Dumont, but it has to be done."

_We'll see what happens, oh yes, when you get here, we shall see. _

Sam had almost made it to the tower. The structure was much higher than he thought. He climbed up on a small platform and used his hands to propel himself to the top of a wall. He almost didn't make it. He grabbed the edge and scrambled up and over it. He could see the darkness of the old grid but there were lights that seemed to show a pathway to the center of the tower. The center of the labyrinth.

"I knew it was starting to look too easy," he said and jumped down into the maze. He jumped into darkness. The only lights were faint tracks on the walls but they faded as they trailed into the distance. "Great, just great," Sam quipped.

He brushed his hand against the wall and the light tracks suddenly lit up. He tried again and a flash of light shot down the wall, an arrow pointing towards the center of the maze. "This must be some kind of user power," he thought. At least it meant he had a fighting chance to beat the maze. He ran off after the arrow.

Tron tried to follow after Sam, but quickly lost track of his position. He hopped from one piece of broken data to another and followed a wall to the edge of the maze. A flash of light caught his eye. He couldn't see Sam, but he could see the trails of light that were leading him deeper and deeper into the maze. He tried to jump across to the top of a wall inside the maze, but a forcefield pushed him back.

_ That would be far too easy, wouldn't it Tron. You could just jump through the maze. Where's the fun in that? _

Tron jumped down into the maze. After he adjusted to the darkness, he could see the tracks on the walls and followed them. There were a series of faint numbers that were counting down and he assumed he could follow them to the center of the maze. His most important mission now was to find Sam and make sure he was safe.

He almost ran into the gridbug. Small green and nasty, these bugs had infested the system many cycles ago. It seemed like Dumont had learned to control them, and he was sending them his way.

Tron pulled out his disc and threw it. The bug sputtered and flashed but didn't derezz. The disc spun back to his hand and he threw it again, moving back as the bug advanced. The bug spit out a yellow liquid. Tron barely dodged. The gridbugs seemed to be infected. Tron threw his disc again and this time the bug shattered.

_Infected gridbugs. aren't they wonderful. I created them myself. _

Tron turned a corner and found himself face to face with another gridbug. Except this one was about twice the size of a normal gridbug and was blocking his path. Tron turned and ran back down the corridor. Once the gridbug started moving, Tron turned and threw his disc moving away as he did so. The gridbug kept advancing tearing down the walls of the maze as it rampaged. Tron realized he couldn't beat it by just attacking it with his disc. He stopped and let the bug approach. Then he ran up the side of the wall and landed on the gridbug's back.

The gridbug thrashed, trying to shake Tron free. But Tron held on and jammed his disc into the back of the gridbug's neck. The program howled and collapsed. Tron used his disc like a razor and slashed at the bug's neck until finally it derezzed.

Tron landed on all fours on the ground, brushed off his shoulder and ran further into the maze.

_Be prepared for anything Tron! I have more where that came from. _

Dumont's laughter cascaded through the grid. Tron felt sorry for the old man. Cycles and cycles of neglect and decay had taken their toll, but it was no excuse. Dumont was wrong. And he needed to find Sam.

Sam was still using his power to find his way into the maze. So far it had been an easy trip. He would sometimes find himself at dead ends and made his way around broken walls, old light tanks. But so far there had been no enemies. It was easy. Probably too easy.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he ran into a corridor and was plunged into complete darkness. He froze and realized he could hear something breathing behind him. He tried to stay perfectly still, but the circuitry in his suit wavered slightly in the darkness. He could hear the sound of something scattering up the side wall of the corridor. Something scurried above his head, but when he looked up there was nothing there. His breath caught in his throat.

His hand unconsciously went to his disc. Slowly, he tried removing it from it's spot on his back. His senses made him hyper-aware of the sounds around him. Something shuffled to the left of him. Then something on the right. Whatever it was, there was more than one of it.

And he was surrounded. He pulled out his disc and threw it. It ricochetted off the walls of the corridor leaving a trail of light behind it. For the briefest instant a shadow of something large appeared and then was gone. The darkness filled the corridor again.

"I know you're there," Sam quickly turned but the sound moved away from him. Nothing responded but the sound of shuffling scattering footsteps. "I'll find you!" he yelled but he wasn't sure he'd be able to. Whatever it was was moving quickly and could see in the darkness. Sam didn't have the luxury.

But why didn't he? He turned to the wall next to him and used his user ability to open a small command window. He quickly programmed a light orb and sent it up to fly overhead. And immediately regretted it. He saw what had been chasing him. Five infected animals, that could only be called grid-lizards, were climbing on the walls of the corridor. They were oozing infected mucus on the ground. And then the bulb went out.

_You'll have to do better than that, user. _

It was Dumont. "This is all your doing isn't it?" Sam yelled. He quickly programmed three more orbs and made them password protected. At least it would give him more time. The light was faint and the creatures moved in and out of it. "Get over here you slimy..."

One of the grid lizards pounced on Sam's back and knocked him to the ground. He tried to get his footing but another fell from the ceiling. He pushed the two monsters off of him and stumbled. He found himself standing in front of two large black lizards laced with yellow circuitry. Their skin sparked and sizzled in the darkness. Sam could sense something else was there, but he couldn't see anything in the receding darkness.

Sam threw his disc again and the lizards attacked. They scattered, running up the sides of the tunnel up to the ceiling where they were ready to pounce again. This time Sam was ready for them. He stepped to the side and shot his disc upwards. It bounced from one of the lizards to the other and derezzed them on contact. He quickly dispatched the other two.

The orbs went out again. Somehow Dumont had managed to crack the passwords and turned them off. He quickly raced to the wall and opened another panel, but he sensed something behind him and turned, slashing at empty air with his disc.

"You can't do this forever, Dumont." Dumont said nothing. But Sam could feel his presence all around him, waiting for him to fail, waiting for him to derezz.

Sam reached towards the wall to try and create more lights, but something grabbed his legs and pulled to the ground. He felt himself slipping, skidding on the earth, being pulled. He panicked and let his hands grab the ground. As the ground lit up under his hands, he realized he could make a control panel in the floor. He pulled against the huge thing dragging him, and quickly raced his fingers across the ground. Three more bulbs, this time much larger and much more protected, flashed into being.

And he saw the monster. And his first instinct was to scream. The lights were so sudden and the figure in front of him so large. He tried pulling himself together, but in the back of his mind he realized that this might be something even a User couldn't handle on his own.

And then the creature was upon him, attacking and slashing at him. Sam didn't have time to think. He simply went into auto-pilot, using his capoeira skills to duck and weave past the monster. He hoped it would be enough. It had to be.

He pulled out his disc and slammed the creature in the back of the head. For some reason, this was a program without circuits. A black hole of energy. The program staggered and stopped. Sam's advantage was the the program was slow, a lumbering mass of dark matter. Sam's capoeira training allowed him to move quickly through a variety of positions, always focusing on his opponent. It was the game. Except this time it could turn deadly. He realized that he couldn't make mistakes, when the program swiped wildly and struck him across the back and knocked the wind out of him.

He was able to recover quickly. He moved quickly around the program striking and then retreating. As the program lurched towards him, he flipped backwards and landed a kick on the program's chin, knocking it back. It was stunned.

Sam pulled out his disc and for some reason he just knew. He knew that if he ran his finger around the outside of the disc, he would be able to put more energy and more power into his strikes. He pulled his finger around the edge and the disc crackled with new energy.

The program staggered back to its feet, but Sam met it head on and threw his disc. The program had no chance as the disc razored through its head and cut it clean off before derezzing it completely.

Sam was breathing hard. He bent over and tried to catch his breath. Then he stood up and looked towards the I/O tower. He was close. He raced, free running past broken walls, running through gaps and corners. He turned a corner and he was there.

On the other side of the maze Tron was also getting closer. He kept fighting off the grid bugs. The red beam of light from the I/O tower was getting closer and larger. He turned a corner and he was there. The center of the maze. The I/O tower.

_So nice of you both to make it. Come in, come in. _

Tron saw Sam standing in front of the tower and ran over to meet him.

"I knew you'd be back," Sam said and gave Tron a brotherly pat on the back. Tron looked at Sam and smiled slowly. Being around users was always a great adventure.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"Let's do it!" Sam was ready. Tron was ready. It was time to take out the I/O tower.


	32. Final Days

FINAL DAYS OF THE OLD SYSTEM

They entered the I/O station. the ceiling vaulted high above them disappearing into shadow above Tron and Sam. Sam ran forward and then slowed to a stop. He jogged in place for a few steps and let Tron come up beside him.

"Wait, Tron," he said. "Something about this is bothering me. Did everyone who knew my father have a key?"

"I think so," Tron said.

"Then wouldn't Dumont have a key too?" Sam reflexively looked up. If Dumont had one of the keys, Sam was pretty sure he wouldn't hand it over of his own free will.

"That would appear to be the case."

"Dumont!" Sam yelled. "Listen to me. My father, Flynn, he might have left something with you. Something that was important to him. I need you to give it to me. It's important."

"Why would I help you, Sam Flynn?" Dumont's voice was with them in the room now. "Aren't you here to kill me, to derezz me? No, of course I couldn't allow that."

"No. But you're using too much energy. We could work something out!" Sam was hoping that this would convince Dumont to give him the key, but he had a good feeling how this was going to end up.

"Then give me more energy, _user_." Tron kept looking around the room, searching for traps he was sure must be there.

"I can't. The system is already tapped out." Dumont was silent for a few moments.

"Why don't we make a deal. You decode this message, and I will give you what you're looking for. You lose, you leave here and never return." Sam thought about it. He had always been good at codebreaking and solving puzzles.

"It's a deal." Tron looked at Sam.

"Are you sure you can do this?"

"I'm a user, Tron. How hard can it be?"

A console and chair lifted out of the floor. Sam sat.

A series of Cyrillic letters appeared on the screen followed by a series of numbers. He first started looking for patterns in the letters and copying strings of code to a command window he had drawn up in the air of the grid in front of him. He moved quickly focusing on the work. Sweat raced down his face.

He noticed a series of three letters appeared three different times in the message. If he could figure out the three letters he would be able to solve the rest of the puzzle.

"Dumont, I'm gonna need more to go on. Who is this message from?"

"Ah but that would be telling."

Three letters repeated, and a message from someone. He tried something at random. Three letters. S, A, M.

The message began to reveal itself. When he had decoded the entire message, he read it.

_Dear Sam,_

_ If you're reading this, Sam, I'm not around anymore. Know that I had to do what I had to do, but I love you more than the whole world Sam. I hope you can forgive me one day. I love you Sam. _

_Love Dad. _

Sam finished the letter. He stood up. "Are we done here, Dumont?"

"I underestimated you, Sam. But a promise is a promise. You may approach."

Tron and Sam approached the dais where Dumont sat. He held out his hand and a small orb appeared. "I'm very sorry Sam, for what's about to happen. I wish you could have seen this place when it was new. But I'm old. This system is old. And perhaps it shouldn't exist anymore."

"What are you talking about Dumont?" Tron asked. "The two systems can work together. You don't have to say that."

"I'm sorry Tron. You wouldn't understand. Goodbye now. Go on. Go on before it's too late." Sam grabbed the pearl from Dumont's hand.

"Thank you." Dumont smiled faintly and closed his eyes. Then the room collapsed. Chunks of data fell from the ceiling. Dumont rezzed in and out for a moment and then was gone.

"Tron what's happening?" Tron looked up and pushed Sam out of the way. A block of data crashed to the ground at his feet.

"He was the last thing keeping this system alive." The two of them ran. The maze was deactivated and they had a clear path back to the cave. All the dead programs were finally fading out. Disappearing as they should have many cycles ago.

When they climbed out over the rocks back in the Grid, Tron looked back at where he had come from. The data was still crumbling and derezzing. A single tear fell down his cheek. Sam put his hand on the program's shoulder.

"Come on. I think the others might be in trouble." The sounds of fighting came from behind them. They turned around and headed down to the battlefield.


	33. CHOICE

CHOICE

Sam stood at the top of the hill. He watched the battle trying to figure out who had the upper hand. There were black guard soldiers and a series of other programs that were fighting alongside his friends. On the hill on the other side was the recgognizer. And he saw Quorra. And she was with Dillinger.

Dillinger was typing into a tablet. Sam knew that he must have been reprograming black guards. But for every black guard that he created, another program would appear in the grid. Someone out there was matching Dillinger program for program. Whoever it was, he was good.

Tron had already joined the battle. He was fighting, trying to move up the hill as he did so. Sam knew he had to get to Quorra, but he wasn't sure how. He looked more closely and saw Cyphen. He was being held back by two black guards. And there was Zuse, lording it over everyone. Their plans became clear. And Sam was angry, angrier than he'd ever been.

On the other side of the hill, Dillinger looked over at Sam. He smiled and went back to work. It was only a matter of time before the battle would end with himself as the winner. He added some modifications to his black guard programs increasing their shields by 200%. He waved to Sam and laughed. He could see that Sam saw his smile because he rushed down the hill. Some good that would do him. He wouldn't make it through the gridlocked programs. But if he did, it would be more fun.

Dillinger felt like he was in a video game. The whole world didn't seem real. For every soldier that died another one came to take its place. The life of programs didn't really amount to much when they could be rerezzed, backed up and upgraded. Sam was coming closer now. Dillinger admired his courage. He chose to fight from the sidelines. For some it might have been a weakness, but for him it was just admitting that he wasn't a good fighter.

As Sam rushed towards him, Dillinger threw more advanced programs his way. Sam's nostrils flared and he jumped on top of a program. He then sliced his head off. Ah, just like a Flynn to use brute force. Dillinger laughed and kept right on programming.

Tron was trapped by the onslaught of programs. He watched as Sam raced through the pack towards Dillinger. He tried to run after him, but he was stopped by three guards that had massive shields. After defeating them, he had to contend with another series of regular guards. It seemed like after every program he derezzed, two more would come to take their places.

"Hey Tron, need a little help?" It was Orion. Lyta came up behind him with her light sticks. And Aaron was close behind. "We can fend them off while you take off after Sam."

"Thank you," Tron said and raced ahead. A program tried to stop him, but Orion got in its way.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. Lyta and Aaron both smiled. They were happy just to be following their programming. Tron looked back for a moment. Then he raced on again. They would be fine without him.

Quorra watched as Sam moved closer to the hill. Inside she was cheering him on, but a part of her wanted to look away and close her eyes. It wasn't his fault. These programs were living things, brothers and sisters to her, and as each one died she felt a strange loss. Programs weren't just programs to Quorra. They were her friends.

She thought about what she would say to Sam when he got to her. How could she explain herself. Sam was at the bottom of the hill. He looked up, and she said, "Sam, Dilinger didn't hurt me. I'm here because he asked me to come." She had decided to tell him the truth.

"He asked me to make a choice. Your father gave me something, a key a long time ago. He said I might have to give it to you, but that I should make sure you really deserve it. He asked me to ask you what you're going to use them for?"

She looked down at Sam. She waited for his answer.

Sam had reached the bottom of the hill. He was glad that Quorra was ok. He looked up and saw Cyphen struggling against the guards. K12 stood next to him trying to hold him back. He didn't have time to react. Cyphen broke free of the guards' hold and raced over to Dillinger. He knocked him in the face and grabbed his tablet. Sam watched time slow. Cyphen smashed the tablet on the ground right before the two guards jumped him and threw him to the ground. He struggled to get up. But the two guards had him.

Sam saw Quorra look over at Cyphen with tears in her eyes. But Zuse pushed her aside and she shied away. Sam knew that she was powerless to do anything but watch. And he still had to answer her question.

"Tisk tisk. What are we going to do with you?" Zuse walked over to Cyphen. "It seems you've outlived your usefulness to us." He made a quick gesture to the guards. "Kill him." The guard took out his disc and slashed it across Cyphen's neck. He didn't have time to scream. He broke into glass shards and derezzed.

"No!" Sam screamed. He raced up the hill, but K12 rushed down and held him back. She shook her head and Sam could see tears in the eyes of her avatar.

"There's nothing we can do for him now," she said.

Sam looked up and saw Dillinger. K12 stayed at his side. "Answer Quorra's question, Sam!" Dillinger yelled. "What do you want the keys for anyhow? You don't really care about this system. You're only here because your daddy sent you."

"That's not true!" Sam yelled. "I've always wanted what's best for the system. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"Then why did you abandon your friend Jayla? You knew that the ISO-tec could have saved her. She could walk now if you hadn't wasted all your time."

"The system isn't fast enough. You know that. But that problem's over! The old system is gone. Now the I/0 towers will be faster. We can grow new ISOs now!"

"So what? If you aren't going to use them, then who cares?"

"I care," said Quorra quietly. Sam watched as she came out from behind one of the black guards. "I care."

"And I will use the ISO-tec for practical purposes. It's just not ready yet."

"Then use the keys Sam! The keys will give the system ultimate power." Dillinger was almost begging Sam. Sam was surprised. It seemed like Dillinger was on his side. But that didn't make sense. Why the battles? Why all the struggle?

"I can see that you're wondering why I've been fighting you this whole time? Because, Sam, if you don't do it, I will. Quorra can just as easily give me the key, and I can just as easily take the rest of them from you. But it's up to her. I'll go along with whatever she decides."

Zuse came close to Dillinger and whispered. "This wasn't part of the plan." He said with a smile and an uncomfortable laugh. "You, um, must be playing tricks with Sam." He smiled but this time his smile was concerned and thin.

"I'm a user, program," Dillinger said with a sneer. "You stay out of this. You were always just a means to an end." He signaled to one of his black guards and he grabbed Zuse.

"I should have known that you weren't to be trusted, user!" Zuse yelled. But he wasn't strong enough to get out of the guard's grasp. "I've been betrayed one too many times. You'll get what's coming to you."

"Shut him up," said Dillinger. He turned back to Sam. "So what's it going to be?"

"You should have told me this all along, Ed. Of course. I don't even know what these are keys to, but of course I want to use them to help the real world. I could even use your help to figure it out. But we have to do it together. I don't want to fight you anymore."

"I told you, I'd go along with whatever Quorra decides. I mean it."

Sam thought for a moment. Was it really all this easy? Maybe it was. Maybe it wasn't. At least Zuse was out of the picture. Even if he was derezzed, Sam was sure he'd have another back up somewhere. But for now, the fact that he had been neutralized made it easier for Sam to make up his mind.

"Alright. Call off your lackies and it's a deal." Dillinger smiled.

"The problem is, I don't have my tablet anymore. Your friend saw to that." Sam was still hurt by his friend's death, but there was nothing he could have done. "Your friends will have to take care of the rest of my programs. But they shouldn't have trouble with them." Sam and Dillinger both watched the end of the battle.

The tide of battle turned and Harry's programs made quick work of the remaining black guards. While they were a bit battered, the Re:volution members had all survived. All except one.

"Stupid idiot," Aaron said as a sob caught in his throat. "Always programmed to save everyone. Except himself." Lyta was sobbing.

"He didn't have to do that!" She balled her hands into fists and looked at the sky. "If you're out there, oh mighty creator, you should have programmed him to take care of himself!" She was screaming.

"There was nothing we could do." It was Tron. Tron brushed off his discs and put them back. "We've seen enough battle today. Let's be glad we're all still alive. Thank the users."

"Tron," Orion said. Tron seemed different to him now, like he'd been through some kind of test and barely survived. Tron's shoulders were slumped and he looked older, if that was even possible since programs don't age.

Then they were silent as they made their way up the hill to Sam and the others.

Then Quorra made her choice. She looked at Dillinger.

"I'm sorry Edward. The keys were always meant for him. I believe in Sam." Dillinger nodded. He had tried his best to convince her, but he also believed in Sam. For some crazy reason. As long as Sam kept his promise, he could feel ok with this.

"Suit yourself."

Quorra walked down the hill to Sam and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you made it. I had faith, but I was still scared." Sam smiled and hugged her back.

"There's a lot of my dad in me, Q. You know that."

"He was the bravest man I ever knew."

"Yeah I know." Sam had almost forgotten about what the keys really were. They were his father's memories. His father's memories of him. And somehow they linked together to make something powerful.

"Here," Quorra held out a small blue bead. "Please Sam, don't forget your promise." This was it, the last key. Sam hesitated. He knew there was no turning back. He touched the key and it enveloped him in deep blue light.

And he was gone.


	34. The Legacy

THE LEGACY

They stood at the edge of a great sea. The water lapped against the shore. It almost felt real, but the digital haze around the edges told Sam that he was in a simulation. There was a man standing near the water skipping stones.

"Hey kiddo."

"Dad? Is that really you?"

"Yeah. It's me. Or as close to a me as I could make it back then. I think I'm a little bit scruffier than he was. Haven't had the chance to shave in a few microcycles." The program rubbed its chin.

"You're here. You're some kind of program?"

"I'm an AI your father created, or rather I created. It gets so confusing these days. I've been waiting for you to find me. I sent Cyphen to help you, I see the others did too. That's good news."

"He's dead now, Cyphen. He died trying to protect me, trying to protect everyone."

"I had a feeling that would happen. I have a backup of him. I'll give it to you when we're done here. That guy was always a mess."

"So this was all part of the plan?"

"Sure was, kiddo."

Sam stared at the man who was and wasn't his father. He could almost believe, for an instant, that it was him. But then he realized that this program didn't blink. He also didn't seem to be breathing.

"How long have you been here?"

"Cycles and cycles. I grew and learned along with your father. Everything he was, he gave to me. He showed me what it was like to be him, so I became him. I've certainly changed some over the cycles, but even that, I would have changed like him too."

He could see that Sam didn't believe him. The wonder and hurt in his eyes said as much.

"Sam, for all it's worth, you have to believe me, I am your father."

I know. Somewhere in his heart, he did know it. And somehow he knew that he wasn't CLU. Something was different.

"I missed you Sam. When Flynn left, he scattered all my memories of you. He broke them up and gave them to people he could trust. They were precious and I was without them for so long."

The program paused. He looked at Sam, trying to take him all in at once, his smile his blue eyes. The tears that were starting to form there.

"But we both knew it was the right thing. It was the best way to get you here, to me." Sam nodded absently as the two of them sat down on the sand.

"So what do I do now?"

"You change the world."

"But how?"

"You ask questions. Everything your father knew, I know. Everything your father was, I am. So ask away. Talk to me."

Sam stared out at the deep sea. He didn't know where to begin, or what to think. He decided to start with what had brought them together in the first place.

"You know Quorra actually went with me to the real world. After you died, I mean after he died. Everyone thinks she's strange, you know, she doesn't quite get it, but she's learning fast."

"You don't say. I always thought she'd have fun in the real world."

"And we're working on growing new ISOs. We almost had it, but the system was too slow. That's how I found your code in the first place."

"You're growing ISOs? That's wonderful, man! I didn't think it could be done."

"Yeah, Dillinger helped."

"You mean Edward Dillinger? The Edward Dillinger?"

"His son actually. He reminded me of why I wanted to find you in the first place. I want to keep doing what you were doing before you..."

He paused again. He couldn't believe that this was his father, yet, here he was. He looked into his father's eyes and saw all the love and tenderness he remembered from when he was young, from the nights when his father told stories, from the hours they spent on the beach. And his father smiled back at him as he said,

"Let me tell you a secret, Sam."

And they talked for hours, until the sun set over the ocean.


	35. End Of Line part 1

**A/N: Sorry I took so long folks. I've been agonizing over this ending. :D**

END OF LINE PART 1

Quorra was supposed to go to the lab for a test, but she stayed home looking out over the lake. A month had gone by, and Sam hadn't come home. Quorra and Dillinger tried to pick up where Sam's research left off, but it wasn't easy for Quorra. She had had too many people abandon her. Sam's disappearance broke her heart.

There was a knock on the garage door.

"Come in," Quorra said without looking. She knew it was Dillinger. He walked through the trailer and went to sit next to her on the shore. They sat there for a while in silence letting dirty waves lap up against the sand.

"You were late. I hope you don't mind."

"I don't. Why would I mind?" She went back to looking at the water and absent-mindedly dipped her toe in the water.

"Quorra, I know what you're thinking. Sam's a huge flake, we all know that, but time is different in the grid. Maybe he thinks he's only been gone for a few hours."

He put his hand on her shoulder. He knew it was typical, a pathetic effort to try and comfort her, but he would try anything to make her feel better. Every day Quorra grew more distant. He missed that spark that she used to have when they worked together. He sat next to her, and she put her head on his shoulder. He smiled softly, wishing that this would last a little longer and knew that it wouldn't.

The sound of an engine in the yard made Quorra sit up. "Sam?" she gasped. "Is that you?" She stood up and walked to the front of the house. There, sitting astride his Ducati was Sam. Dillinger's shoulders slumped, but he made his best effort to look happy.

"Miss me?" he smiled, unhooking his helmet. Quorra ran up to him and hugged him.

"You've been gone for a month!"

"We didn't think you'd be coming back, Sam," Dillinger said as he walked into the living room.

Sam pretended to be hurt, shooting Dillinger a pained glance.

"Well I came as fast as I could." He turned and smiled at Quorra. "Come with me, I have something to show you."

They raced back to the lab on Sam's motorcycle. The city passed them in a blur. Dillinger followed in his car. When they got to the lab, Sam jumped up and quickly walked up the stairs.

"Come on Quorra."

"I'm coming Sam," she yelled as she tried to keep up. He was already in the building heading towards the lab. When he got there, and Dillinger and Quorra caught up, he went to one of the computers and took out his father's disc. He placed it in the memory slot and the data appeared on the screen.

"We were missing something." He pointed to a series of lines of code focusing on the intricate data. Dillinger was leaning over the desk trying to see if he could make sense of it.

"It looks like filler DNA for the genetic code. That makes a lot of sense. If we were just using the DNA it might not replicate correctly without additional..."

"Sam," Quorra asked, "Where were you?" A tear sparkled in the corner of her eye.

"I was in the Grid Quorra, you know that."

She pointed at the lines of code racing down the screen.

"How could you know this? This code, who taught you this?"

Sam paused. He didn't want to upset Quorra, but she deserved the truth.

"I met my father, Q"

"You mean he's alive?"

"Yes." Sam didn't go into details because they didn't matter. His father was alive. It wasn't an illusion.

"He's alive. I knew it." Tears were starting to form in her eyes, but she held them back. She noticed that Sam and Dillinger were both looking at her funny.

"What are you staring at? Get back to work" She laughed. And Dillinger and Sam went back to staring at the code.

"I think that might work, if we just changed a few modules and added the power from the old system."

"Yeah." Dillinger was typing furiously. Sam was nearly jumping up and down. The work they had been doing, finally coming to life.

The next day, after a long night of programming, they were ready to try again. Sam called the Motley Crew together. Before he left to go to the laser at the arcade, Sam made sure Ryden understood what they were supposed to do on their end.

"Make sure the I/0 tower is working at maximum capacity. We don't want the same problems as before."

"Aye aye captain," he said with a mock salute. "We'll make sure things go smoothly. Now get out of here and do your job." Sam threw on his jacket and motioned for Quorra. She followed behind with a wave and a smile.

"Thanks for everything, guys!"

When they arrived at the arcade, Sam stopped and looked around at the old machines. He had started up the arcade again, but it didn't make much money. Some people still had the heart for old games, but most kids had moved on. He walked over to the Tron machine. He reached for a quarter in his pocket, but stopped. He ran his hand across the screen and pressed the buttons. Then he opened the hidden door and they went to the laser.

Quorra made herself comfortable on Sam's lap. He looked down at her and smiled a half smile. He thought he could get used to this. Before any other dirty thoughts crossed his mind, Quorra activated the laser.

There was a flash of cool light, and they landed in the grid along with the modified disc. They were in a plaza in the center of Tron City. Programs passed them. Sam was glad that he wasn't recognized.

He drew up the code and made some last minute checks before he felt there was nothing else he could do. He put out the disc and took it back, wanting to check again, to make sure he had done everything right. But the only way he would know would be to try.

Quorra looked over his shoulder. "Is it ready?"

Sam put the disc down and gave Ryden the signal. The beam came down from the I/O tower and connected to the disc.

There was a swirl of energy as the beam of light changed into data. Bits of information came together to form patterns, double helixes, molecular cubes. A figure of a child began to form, an infant floating above the disc.

Quorra moved closer to the disc and looked into the swirl of data. She tried to remember what it was like to be born. She only remembered coming to be, coming out of the sea just like she was now. But this, this was a miracle. She thought about how the Creator hadn't lived to see it and wondered what he would have thought of it.

"He would have been so happy, Sam. And proud." Sam was standing next to Quorra and smiled. He already knew how his father would feel. They had spent time talking about it.

The data had finally created the form of a child. There were gridlines on his body, a small suit made of light and black. Quorra reached out and held it in her arms. She cradled it as it began to cry. At first she wasn't sure what to do, but she remembered a book she had read with a mother taking care of her child and said,

"Don't worry, you're safe now. You have a family now. Don't cry." Though a tear of her own splashed on the baby's cheek. The child calmed and started to coo.

"What should we name him, Sam?"

"I think," he paused. He looked up at the I/O tower, the beam of light was still reaching out into the darkness. Back to home and all the things he had to do, all the things that were out there waiting for him. He looked back at Quorra.

"Jordan. His name is Jordan"

* * *

Jayla woke up in the emergency room. The ceiling looked blurry. So did the lights and the drapes. And the figure of someone standing over her had just begun to take shape.

"Harry is that you?" She squinted and tried to make sense of it.

"It's me."

"Something wrong? You sound like you're at my funeral." She was trying to make light conversation, but it came out horribly wrong. She, like Harry, was agonizing over the results of the operation. She could see Dillinger and Sam talking out in the hall, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Ryden was also outside waiting on an uncomfortable looking chair.

"I'm just worried about you, Jayla. You know that."

"Yeah. I'm worried about me too." He bent down and hugged her. And as he did, her leg twitched.

"Did you see that?" she asked.

"See what?" She tried moving her leg again. This time she kicked out and nearly kicked Harry in the side.

"I can move it. It's moving! I moved it!" Jayla sat up in bed and swung her feet over the side.

Sam and Ryden came in from the hall. "Not so fast. You probably want to wait a few days."

"Sam," Harry turned to him.

"It worked. Dillinger says it will be a few more days before we know if you'll be fully functional again Jayla, and we'll have to run some more tests, but it seems like things are under control."

Jayla's face turned red and she looked away. This was her boss, this was the guy who signed her paychecks, but she reached out and hugged him anyhow. She hugged Harry too.

"I can't believe it, I just can't." She tried putting her foot down at the side of the bed. Then she tested it, put a little weight on it. it held.

"Jayla, I don't think," Sam tried to interject.

"Help me up." Jayla put her arm around Harry's shoulder and Sam helped her stand up. She took a step forward and wobbled. Harry moved in to catch her, but Jayla said, "No I can do this. I know I can do this." She took another step, this time more assured. Dillinger came in from the hall where he had been making a phone call. Jayla looked over at him and then quickly made her way over, hugged him and ruffled his hair.

"Well that was unexpected," he said.

"Well start expecting it, Junior," Jayla said and gave him a peck on the cheek. Dillinger blushed. Sam laughed.

Quorra came in to see what all the commotion was about. She had been in the other lab taking some extra tests, and was finally finished. Jayla was still a little wobbly on her feet, but she made her way over to Quorra.

"You might not understand everything I've been through, but thank you. Really. Thank you Quorra."

Quorra smiled softly. "I didn't really do anything. It was Sam and Edward. It was their work. But I'm glad you're better."

Sam put a hand around her waist. "Come on Quorra. Jayla should rest. You guys should all rest. As your boss, I give you all the day off!" Harry and Ryden cheered.

"Thank you oh high and mighty one. We are most grateful," Ryden bowed.

Sam sighed, smiled and turned back to Quorra.

"You ready?"

"Sure!"

"See you guys later."

As they rode back to the arcade, Sam felt Quorra's arms wrapped around his body. It felt nice just to be there with her, like old times. They fit perfectly together on his Ducati. Now that things were moving forward, he thought about their future together, and Jordan's future. Only time would tell what the world would be like for him.

"Sam," Quorra's voice brought him back to the now.

"Yeah?"

"What's next?"

She put her head on his back and closed her eyes, waiting for his answer. Taking it all in, like the first time. The sun spilled down. The clouds raced across the sky.

"We change the world"


	36. End of Line part 2

END OF LINE PART 2

Tron stood at the edge of the simulation waiting for a friend. Cyphen stood behind him. They were on a hill staring out at the endless ocean.

"It's good to see you again," Tron said.

"It's good to see me too. I was afraid that that would be the last time. I am glad the creator brought me back. We still have work to do."

The sound of a cough at their backs caused them to turn around. It was the Creator.

"Hello boys." He seemed older than before, but Cyphen hadn't seen him in many cycles. "Cyphen, Tron." He stood next to them.

"Still waiting?" he asked.

"Sam said he will be here soon," Cyphen explained. "He said he had something to show us."

Flynn smiled knowingly. Sam had already told him about the surprise.

"Hey!" Sam and Quorra were climbing the hill. Quorra held something in her arms. Cyphen looked down. Quorra was holding a baby.

"Is that an ISO?" Tron asked.

Sam and Quorra came to the top of the hill. "His name is Jordan. He's the first ISO we were able to create." Her face brightened and she said, "I'm a mother!" She looked deeply into Jordan's eyes.

"He's what will change our world," the creator said and cooed at the baby. It really was a child, a child that would grow up.

"A mother," Tron repeated. He had no concept of the word. But seeing the way Quorra looked at Jordan, he understood a little of what it meant. Quorra had been the one to create this being, this program, and some part of her belonged to it. "Can I hold him?" he asked.

Quorra passed Jordan over. At first Tron wasn't sure what to do, but he felt the warmth, a soft energy coming from the baby, and he smiled.

"Quorra," Sam said. "There's someone I want you to meet." He turned to the Creator. Quorra stood there staring.

"Are you him?" she asked. "I watched him die. But you're here."

Sam explained the AI, what his father had left behind, and what the keys really were. Quorra was almost crying. She raced towards Flynn and he swooped her up in a hug.

"I don't believe it!"

"Hey kiddo. Do you think I would just leave you?" He put her down and looked at her.

"No, but."

"I'm here now. And now it's time to make a move. We still have work to do. There's a lot of space, the future is wide open, man!"

Tron returned Jordan to Quorra. She had so many questions. What would the future hold for the ISOs? What would Jordan's future be? She knew there would be enemies who would fight against them. Who would they be?

Jordan's cries brought her back to the present. She held him close and he stopped crying. Whatever happened, she vowed to take care of him, to give him love, to teach him. And to protect him.

Sam put his arm around Quorra's shoulder. The four of them looked out to the sea, and a world of infinite possibility. There were ISOs in the grid again, and Sam had fulfilled his father's legacy. Cyphen composed and sent a quick message. Then he turned back. The sun was setting, and for now, the system was safe, the child was safe, and Sam and the Creator were protected. He smiled under his helmet. This was the way it should be.

* * *

Cyphen's message traveled quickly to its intended destination. It flickered on computer screens across the world.

_Dear User, _

_ There are ISOs in the Grid again. And you have been part of the journey. The world of the Grid always has new conflicts, new enemies. But for now, Quorra, Sam and Jordan are safe. I have vowed to protect them myself, and Tron is working vigilantly as always to protect our system. _

_ Things are moving forward quickly, and I only have a moment to thank you for your presence. You have completed your mission. Of course there may be missions to come, and if you accept them I have no doubt that you will be successful. _

_ The Grid is still open. And full of promise. _

_ Thank you._

_ Cyphen. _

_**END OF LINE**_

_(A/N_

Thank you all for coming with me on this journey. When I started this story I had no idea it would be this long or this epic, and I was afraid I'd lose my "users" along the way. But if the hits are any indication, you've been with me all this time, and for that I am so thankful. Writing this story has rekindled my love of sci-fi, writing and exploring new worlds through fiction. I am sad to see it end, but the characters live on. Here's hoping we'll be seeing more of Sam, Quorra, Jordan, Flynn, Dillinger and the others in the future.

Peace, Programs!)


End file.
